American Displacement Disorder
by Mister Vault 101
Summary: After being in the hospital for two months, American high school student Adolf Riese learns that he has to transfer to Yamaku Academy, a school for the disabled in north Japan. When he arrives at the school, he befriends Hisao Nakai, another transfer student. Together, the two must adjust to the new school and maybe even learn something about themselves along the way...
1. Emigration

Chapter 1: Emigration

May. The month that the decision was made to send me out of the United States. I apparently needed to be someplace that could cater to my medical needs while still receiving a full education, but what medical needs needed catering were confusing and slightly illogical to me. Well, most were.

I was in a major car accident that killed my sister Emily and nearly killed me two months prior. I was severely injured, almost dead when the EMTs arrived. Oddly enough, I quickly recovered, from both the accident and my sister's death. Maybe I got over her death too quickly, but I knew she wouldn't want me to grieve. That was just how she was. Maybe I just pushed the grievance deep down because I couldn't handle it.

Numerous surgeries were performed on me following the accident. I was in the recovery room at UPMC in Pittsburgh. The doctors had performed open-heart surgery, the last surgery they were to perform. They surgically ensured my heart was healthy, due to some related health issues. They also decided to find my hiatal hernia, to see if it was potentially dangerous at the time. The hernia is near my heart, so it wasn't dangerous. I think. While in the room, the cardiologist assigned to me gave me some news.

According to the doctor, the ADHD I was diagnosed with six years prior was worsening. To this day, how is something I do not know, let alone how my ADHD was relevant. The hernia I had was also enough to warrant such a move, among other things that had no real effect on my daily life for several years. I am not the most blessed person in terms of genetics. Actually, I am sort of cursed, given how many health problems I have, though they aren't truly severe. Not enough to warrant such a change in schooling, in my opinion.

Also, the doctor told me they made arrangements for me to go to school overseas. This at first was disheartening. I have to make all new friends, get used to a new location, a new way of everything, just for _one_ year? And being the outsider who is likely to have issues making friends? Splendid.

However, as I thought about it, it was kind of exciting. A chance to see a foreign land, to live there for a year, to leave the country for the first time... all for free. I was kind of giddy. I thought I would be going to some European nation. My father was a second-generation German-American and my mother was a third-generation Russian-American. I'm not half-Russian, half-German. I'm more than that, but that's irrelevant. Due to that, my grandparents taught me some of both languages, plus most Europeans learned English.

I was told the school in question was very much normal, just that there was also medical staffing in the building. I was also told it was a school for disabled or cripple youths. That didn't help my disposition at all. First, excitement. Then, disappointment. Now I am a cripple. How kind of you, Mister Doctor Guy.

"I talked about it with your uncle, showed him pictures... He seems fine with it," the cardiologist said, seeing my disdain about such a prospect.

I snorted. _He just wants me gone,_ I wanted to say. Both of my parents died when I was young. My mother died during childbirth and my father died in some odd way that I can't describe just because of how strange it was. That left my father's brother to take care of me and Emily. He was a very kind and supportive guardian, but he had his own life troubles to deal with. He worked overtime more often than not because he had to support Emily (until she graduated), me, and his own children. I was the oldest at the time and I could tell that my uncle was getting ecstatic during my junior year. I'd then be off to college in a little over a year and he could slack a bit more. I couldn't blame him.

"It's located on top of a hill in the countryside, a town maybe a few miles down, a city not too far away. It's a very nice school. Many graduates go on to do great things," he continued. "Also, the school isn't just for kids with disabilities. Normal students go there as well." It seemed like he read my mind.

"What country is the school in?" I asked. I was put at ease at the fact it also had normal kids. I felt like a bigot. I mentally shot my self for acting like such a dick.

"Well..." he said, thinking. "What languages do you have some knowledge of?"

"Some German and Russian... and a decent amount of Japanese," I replied. I was teaching myself Japanese on the internet

"How much Japanese?" the cardiologist inquired.

So I'm going to Japan. My mind died. Japan was interesting in many ways. I think Japanese girls are cute, so that was a plus. I also wanted to spend time in Japan because of how many strange things are there. Plus. All of the things on the Internet about how kooky Japan could be came to mind, hence the death of my mind.

"Uh... Well, I've been teaching myself on the Internet and I guess... about less than a Japanese Two level in a school," I replied.

"Well, you'll need to learn to about a Japanese Three or Four level in a week," he bluntly replied, not expecting a miracle.

My face was showing concern and excitement at the same time, it seemed. I can't possibly do that. Learning Japanese on my own was hard enough.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. You already know some of the basics of the language. Plus, the school has on-campus dorms," the expert on the topic-at-hand said, apparently guessing I'd ask if I needed a host family. "There is a perk, too."

_Interesting..._ "Which is?" I questioned.

"You don't have to finish eleventh grade. You'll be a senior when you get there."

This was actually a pleasing thought. No finals is a good thing. My speaking in Japanese wasn't bad. My writing and reading, on the other hand, was total crap. The writing is... confusing. Russian isn't bad, and German, as with the Romance languages, shares the Latin alphabet (not to mention English is a Germanic language). But Japanese? The writing is like Mason's numbers: WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

"Why do I only have a week?" I asked.

"Classes started this week. You'll be only a week behind."

That was unnerving. Starting class in a foreign nation so soon? My jimmies felt a little bit of rustling going on. However, there was no point in arguing. The arrangements were already made, my uncle most likely already planned my trip... I passed a point of no return I didn't even choose to cross. I was thrown through it.

"Can you tell me why I have to go, then?" I asked, curious of my actual disability.

"Well," the cardiologist sighed. "We looked at your recent psyche evaluation, from when you were admitted, and you have an unhealthy combination of mental disorders. ADHD, OCD, bipolar, some signs of Asperger syndrome, and dyscalculia, which is basically mathematical dyslexia. Then there are some more mental disorders that we feel aren't a concern."

"But that's hardly a good enough reason to send me to another school in another nation that is for kids with actual disabilities," I retorted, kind of pissed.

"There's more though," he continued. "You have developmental dyspraxia, which negatively affects your motor skills. You also have arthritis. You are aware of most disorders you have, correct?" I go to answer positively, but he goes on. "You also have a minor cardiac dysrhythmia. Arrhythmia, irregular heartbeat, call it what you will, it's only minor. That means we have to keep an eye on it. You can still engage in physical activity, not too strenuous, though. I think you play some hockey, so that would be fine. Just take breaks, so it's good that line changes exist. However, an irregular heartbeat isn't your only debilitation. Remember that you have lupus and a hernia."

"So... Why do I have to go to Japan?"

"Because," clearly he was getting _his_ jimmies rustled. "It is one of the most renowned schools on the planet that is for children with disabilities. It's a high school. Plus, most other schools that are for disabled children are for the _mentally_ disabled. As in low IQ. You clearly don't have a low IQ."

I think I pissed him off. In the end though, I said I had no more questions. The day passed rather slowly. When I was discharged later that day, he wished me luck at the new school. He also gave me a list of prescriptions to be filled, each only lasted for about five days. Apparently there would be more at this new school. He also apparently set me up with a Japanese tutor, but my uncle knew more about it.

My uncle picked me up and we drove home, fifty or so miles south, to Uniontown. During the drive, I asked him what he thought of the school.

"Looks nice," he said. "I think you'd like it, I really do."

"Do you know any Japanese?" I asked. He was stationed in Japan when he was in the Air Force.

"Some, not much. I'm taking you to a Japanese tutor tomorrow anyway."

"Where would that be?"

"Oddly enough, in Connellsville. Didn't know any Japanese tutors would ever be there."

We went to Target to get my prescriptions filled, then went home.

As we pull in the driveway, I ask my uncle if I'm going to school tomorrow.

"No, you have to brush up on that Japanese stuff," he replied, somewhat optimistic.

I was actually relieved, but I did want to tell my friends goodbye. _Maybe I'll talk to them on Xbox._ Besides, I guessed I would be dropped off in Connellsville for several hours to learn Japanese. Makes sense, actually.

When I walked through the front door, my twin cousins ran and hugged me. They must have really missed me after two months.

"Addy!" both girls exclaimed. "You're home! Are you okay? Do you want to play?"

'Addy.' Such a weird nickname for Adolf. My dad apparently though Adolf was a perfect name for me. My uncle said that when my dad saw me for the first time he remarked that he was strangely reminded of Adolf Hitler. Adolf stuck.

"Lisa, Emma," I crouched next to the girls. "I can't play. I'm sorry, but I'm very tired, and sore. Plus I have to learn a whole new language tomorrow."

"Ooooh!" both awed. They did almost everything in unison. Seven year olds are strange nowadays. "What language?" Again, in unison.

"Japanese."

"But," Emma said. "That has weird letters and stuff! It's like a big bucket of paint was just thrown and _SPLOOSH!_ It's there!" Lisa agreed. Such energetic girls.

"Sorry, but I'm going to go to bed."

They both were _aww-_ing in sadness. It was not bothersome to me. I had to learn a new language tomorrow. I even bypassed Xbox, something I never do. I was bandaged from the surgery. Laying down on my bed, I hissed in discomfort. I still felt some pain in my back. Nicht gut.

"Fick mich," I hissed. I have a habit of speaking and cursing in German or Russian often.

I lied on the bed, wondering what the next week would hold. I slowly drifted off into sleep, forgetting to brush my teeth. Damn myself.

* * *

The next morning, I awoke to the taste of bad breath. Schiße. I got up, brushed my teeth, showered, and changed my bandages. In the shower, I noticed the amount of scars I had from the surgeries and the accident. There were quite a bit.

I then got breakfast and waited for my uncle. When he was ready, we left for Connellsville. It took us a few minutes to find the address at which this tutor was housed. After a brief introduction, I was left with a Japanese immigrant. Her name was Sakura, and she was my tutor. She apparently moved to the States to teach Japanese.

It's said that a natural speaker of a language can teach it better than a foreigner who learned the language. I told her what I already knew fairly well and we started by covering all that I wasn't able to handle at a basic level. She decided that relearning what I already knew would be immensely helpful in the long run.

After the first day, I learned a lot. She was a really good teacher. We started off with the bare fundamentals, like grammar and hard conjugations. Not exactly how I would expect any language to be taught, but it was very effective. Then I learned how to write the "alphabet." The next day I learned more writing and phrases and this sort of deal continued throughout the week.

On the last day, I thanked her in Japanese, and wished her luck. She did the same. I could speak and understand on a Japanese Three level, but I could read and write only at a Japanese Two level. What can I say? I learn languages quick, not to mention I learned Japanese for approximately sixty hours. Twelve hours each day, for five days. Not exactly a week, but I had my flight the next day. I think I learned a lot in that span of time. Sadly, not enough to function at a Japanese high school. I was also taught some phrases and such on a much higher level to get around easier.

The morning of my flight, I packed my stuff. I had the basic necessities, some clothes (apparently there were school uniforms), my Xbox, my laptop, and various other articles. Not like I was moving. I had two medium sized luggage bags, and another bag full of games. I also took my hockey equipment, just in case. I wasn't the biggest hockey player, but it is an enjoyable sport. Make that three luggage bags and a bag full of games. In my wallet was about $250 I saved up, not for this kind of circumstance, however.

After telling my twin cousins goodbye, my other cousin finally presented himself. Jacob was somewhat of a recluse. Thirteen year old boys shouldn't really do that, but whatever. It's his choice.

"Bye Adolf," he dully said. Such a depressing child. Either way, I gave him a hug and did the same to my aunt. Except she wasn't as unfazed by it. I can't read that woman's emotions. _Maybe she was reminded of Emily's death, _I thought.

My uncle and I then departed for the hour or so long drive to Pittsburgh. It was about 12:45 P.M. when we left. My flight departed at 3:00. We had plenty of time.

Sure enough we did. The normal rush hour traffic that was associated with Pittsburgh wasn't present, at least not as severe. We arrived at Pittsburgh International at about 2:30. My uncle and I passed the time listening to the radio and talking. I made a promise to e-mail him at least once bi-weekly (Facebook was too mainstream, I guess). Or, as I told him, I would try to. He accepted it well enough.

We sat in the terminal for about fifteen minutes before I boarded the flight. My luggage was deemed safe enough for flight, which was a relief, because my boxers are totally WMDs. Before I boarded, however, my uncle pulled me back, slapping ten Ben Franklins in my hands.

"Use it only for food or other supplies," he told me. I nodded my head and hugged him in a manly way before boarding. $1250 USD would be more than enough to get me through the school year. Hell, I felt like a millionaire. I secretly thanked my uncle a lot more, because a thousand dollars wasn't something he would just give me, despite how nice he is.

The plane would stop to refuel in Seattle, then we would go to Sendai. From there, I would ride a bus to the school.

During the flight, I watched _Biodome_ and listened music. Genesis and a various assortment of J-Pop songs. J-Pop can be good, even though it is hard to understand when little Japanese is known. I also listened to German and Russian music, but that's irrelevant. My musical tastes aren't typical of the average American teenager.

Upon landing in Sendai, I was greeted with a rush of... culture shock? It seemed like it. No, maybe it was airport security or just the odd feeling of heat. Maybe it was just the experience of being in a foreign nation. I got checked by customs, assured I had a passport, and went into the streets after I exchanged my dollars for yen.

I needed to find the bus stations, so I asked a man where it was. In Japanese, of course.

He directed me to it, and when I was there, I asked a woman at the desk when the next bus to Yamaku Academy would leave. Apparently, my Japanese was a little bad and the receptionist, I assumed she was one, asked what I meant. I asked if she spoke English and she said she did. I asked her again, and she then directed me to a bus that was about to depart.

I boarded the bus and fell asleep. It was nighttime and it would be a few hours until I reached the Academy. My luggage was bulky, and I was anxious. Such a perfect combo for sleep. Fatigue and butterflies in your stomach. _Oyasumi, watashi._

**AN: I'm sure that this wasn't the best possible first chapter, but the way it was written was to reflect Adolf's ADHD. Since I have ADHD, it was much easier to write this way. Either way, I hope you liked the first chapter and read the second, which will be lots of copied text. Given how I'm setting up the story, it's needed.**


	2. Kangei

Chapter 2: Kangei

Japanese Monday mornings felt weird. I was riding on the bus to the school for a while, arriving at the school at about six A.M. I must have been feeling jet lag. Such an odd experience.

The school had some fancy gates out front. It looked nice, that's for sure. There was a staff member behind the gate. I told him I was the student from America. He let me in and handed me a key and a piece of paper with a room number on it: 118. The staff member directed me to the dorms. When I entered, the school itself was quite a sight for me. The building had quite a classic feel to it.

I walked to the boy's dorm. Upon entering, I saw some early risers watching TV. They gave me some dismissive nods and I went on. I then searched for room 118, which was next to room 119, which must have been empty or its occupant asleep. Diagonal from it was room 117, light beaming from underneath the door. I was tempted to see what was going on in there, but I had to unpack. I slid the key into the lock of room 118.

The room was typical of a dorm room. A bed, a desk, a closet, a TV, the works. There was even a mini fridge. I set off unpacking after looking over the small, yet cozy dorm room.

The unpacking process was rather long for me. I set my laptop on the desk near the bed, and my clothes I sort of shoved into the closest. Not that there were many clothes, anyway. They actually were just in a neat, folded pile on the closet floor. The school uniforms were hanging up in the closet. I needed to find out about my medicine.

All of my stuff was unpacked, so I checked the time on my watch. It was 8:45. _How'd that take nearly three hours?_ Everyone must have been in homeroom already. I swore and took off my clothes, grabbing the school uniform that I was intended to wear.

Running out of the dorm, my room door locked in the process, I set off for the main building. At least it seemed like it was. As it turns out, though the courtyard was largely empty, I was not alone in being late. Another boy was walking into the main building, and we ended up side-by-side. He was about my age, roughly my height, had messy brown hair, but was definitely Japanese. When we entered the main building, I contemplated starting a conversation with him, but we were intercepted by a man with a five o'clock shadow who wore a brown blazer over a black tie and white shirt, and navy blue pants. His hair was rather unkempt.

He turned towards the boy next to me.

"You must be... Ni... Na... Niki?" the tall man asked the boy, in Japanese.

"Nakai," the boy replied. The man turned towards me.

"And you must be Re... Ri... Rice?"

"Riese," I responded.

"So you both are. Excellent. I'm your homeroom and science teacher. My name is Mutou. Welcome."

Japanese formalities were something that still confused me. I know the last name was formal, but I wondered if I had to call him Mister Mutou.

Mutou gave us both a handshake, not exactly a firm one, but not weak either. He then checked his watch.

"The head nurse asked for a brief check-in visit from both of you, but there's no time for that now."

"Should we go later?" Nakai asked. While I understood what was being said, it was still in Japanese.

"Yes, afternoon is probably fine. We should get going and introduce the both of you to the rest of the class. They're waiting already."

Well, this was weird. Being waited on is not something I am accustomed to.

"Do you want to introduce yourselves to the class?" Mutou asked the both of us.

"Yeah, sure. I mean, isn't that normal?" Nakai said.

I, however, was nervous. Being an American and all, especially someone whose Japanese skills are crap.

"I don't know. My Japanese isn't the best," I told Mutou, and Nakai gave me a quizzical look.

"I forgot, you're the American student," Mutou said in Japanese. "It shouldn't be bad, most students have a grasp on English equivalent to your fifth-graders," he said in English, surprising me.

This was actually reassuring, so I nodded as if to say, "Okay, I'll introduce myself."

"Let's go then," Mutou told me and Nakai.

He lead us up to the third floor, to a classroom marked "3-3." He opened the door and apologized to the class for being late.

It seemed me and Nakai had the same issue, being hesitant to enter. We must have been synchronized, as we entered the room at the same time. He gazed around the room, avoiding students' eyes. I attempted the same thing, but I failed, meeting several gazes.

I caught the gaze of a girl with purple-ish hair the longest. She shied away after our eyes met for a few seconds. She was intriguing, to say the least, though her hair covered the right-half of her face. Not many kids had visible disabilities. One girl had no thumb on her right hand, and another girl had no left hand, the stump bandaged, and a slightly darker complexion than the rest of the class. One boy was wearing a beret and had a bandage on the side of his face. Another boy was sleeping and had a cane. There was a girl with blue hair and glasses, nothing seemed wrong with her, but she seemed to be signing. Beside her was a girl with bubblegum pink hair that ended in drills, and behind her was a really chubby guy that reminded me of Gabe Newell, which WAS a problem. My Steam wallet is not ready. In the front was a dark haired girl with prosthetic legs. Next to her was a creepy looking guy, but he never paid any heed to me.

I glanced to my right just to see Nakai glance to his left. We glanced at each other, so he must have been analyzing the class as well. We shrugged. We both didn't seem to be paying attention to Mutou.

"...please welcome our newest classmates." Mutou said in Japanese.

Both of us were caught off-guard by the clapping Mutou initiates, which is followed by the whole class, bar the girl with one hand. We both bow, stupidly. I glance at Nakai and he glances at me. We both shrug.

Silence falls, as if we were lambs. Nakai took the initiative to introduce himself.

"So... I'm Hisao Nakai," he paused. "My hobbies are reading and soccer. I hope to get along with everyone, even though I'm a new student." Some of what he said was confusing, so context helped.

He becomes silent and that is my cue to introduce myself. I was pretty nervous.

"I'm Adolf Riese. I'm from the United States and I like video games, reading, hockey, and other things. I hope to get along with everyone, too," I introduced myself. "My Japanese isn't the best, so cooperate with me," I added. That was a hard thing to do. Introducing myself in Japanese wasn't easy.

Everyone seemed satisfied with what me and Nakai said. I relaxed. Girls were throwing us glances, so it wasn't bad. In fact, Nakai himself seemed pretty cool. Mutou was emphasizing the importance of getting along, which everyone except the two newbies seem to be intently paying attention to. When he was done, another round of applause barreled through. Culture shock. Nakai seemed confused, too. Even the girl without a left arm clapped, smacking her one hand off of the stump. Disturbing.

Mutou turned to us. "We're going to be doing some group work today, so that'll give you both a chance to talk with everyone. Is that okay with you two?" Surprisingly, I understood everything he said.

Nakai and I both said it was okay with us.

"That's good. You both can work with Hakamichi. She's the class representative," Mutou said. "She can explain anything you might want to know. And who else would be able to do that better, right?" Again, I have superb context skills.

Mutou handed out assignments to everyone except me. He handed me a special copy that's in English and Japanese. He then announced that everyone will be working in groups of three, but there will be one group of four. Nakai and I both have no idea who Hakamichi is. We share a third shrug. Mutou seemed to notice our helplessness.

"Oh, right. Hakamichi is right there. Shizune Hakamichi."

As he said this, the girl with the pink hair waved us down. We took seats by her, next to the window.

"I guess you're Hakamichi, right?" Nakai asked. "It's nice to meet you."

She let out a really loud laugh, preempting my friendly introduction. Nakai was as startled as I was. We seemed to share a lot of emotions.

"It's nice to meet you, too! But! I'm not Hakamichi, I'm Misha! This is Hakamichi. Shicchan!" she said, awfully loud. She pointed to the blue haired girl with glasses that was signing. She simply nodded to acknowledge our existence, however slight.

"Nice to meet you," Nakai said.

Hakamichi looks at Misha, who signs really quick, and Hakamichi signs back. I sigh and look at Nakai. We shrug for the fourth time.

Misha looks back at us rather quickly. "I can see you both are a little confused, right? Right? But, I understand why you would think I was Shicchan!" We gave her a pair of quizzical looks. "Shicchan is deaf, so I'm the person who translates things for her." My Japanese knowledge was limited, and this girl was pushing the limits. "I'm like an interpreter! She says it's nice to meet both of you!"

Hakamichi signs something to Misha, who turns toward us again. "You're the new students, huh? Well, Shicchan, of course they are! If they weren't, they wouldn't have been standing up there for no reason, right? Right! They seem very interesting, don't they?" I wondered if she was actually talking to the deaf girl, Hakamichi, or she just had a habit of talking too much. "We knew there were going to be new students, but we didn't expect you two to be here today! So soon! Right, Hicchan? Right... uhhh..." Nicknaming me is impossible. "Adolf-chan!" Shit.

She noticed our reactions. "They fit, don't they?" she happily exclaimed.

Nakai clearly had a qualm with it. "I don't really see how."

"Yeah, Adolf-chan just sounds weird," I said. She ignored me.

"It fits! You look just like I imagined!" she told Nakai. I clearly was a wild card, being American.

Hakamichi signs again, to which Misha laughs. Again. "Yeah, you look just like a Hicchan!"

Nakai clearly had a jimmy rustled. "I wonder why everyone seems to think so..."

Hakamichi tapped on the desk to get Misha's attention, and their fingers started to move fast. Really fast.

I looked at Nakai. "So, why're you here?" I asked.

He seemed hesitant to respond. He instead answers with my question. "Well, why are you here?"

Not wanting to start a 'I asked you first' kind of thing, I told him. "Arrhythmia. At least that was the big thing, even though it is actually pretty minor. I have other things wrong with me, I guess, though I am unaffected." I learned how to say _arrhythmia_ in Japanese, among other disabilities of mine, specifically because I was at this certain school. Nakai looked taken aback. Whether it was my poor Japanese or my health condition, I wasn't sure.

He never answered my question, but instead asked another.

"So, your Japanese isn't that good, Riese?" he asked.

"No. I had to learn a lot in a week. I'm happy I can understand what everyone has said so far. And call me..." I thought about my middle name. Nikolai. That sounds better than Adolf, honestly. Nikolai was Nikorasu in Japanese, according to Wikipedia. "Call me Adolf or Nikorasu. Please."

"Nikorasu?"

"My middle name is Nikolai, and Nikorasu is the Japanese equivalent." I was pushing my Japanese knowledge too far.

"Okay, just call me Hisao," he returned the favor. Calling someone by their surname seems like an insult to me in casual conversation.

I was about to ask if he spoke English when Misha interrupted with what seemed to be her trademark. The laugh.

"Sorry about that! Shicchan wants you two to know she's the class rep, so if there's anything you need to know, you can feel free to ask her." Hakamichi signed again. "Do you like the school so far? We can show you around a little if you haven't had the time to... familiarize? yourselves with it!"

Not the best translator, but I wasn't the best Japanese speaker. I decide to quickly ask if she can speak English.

"Yes, but it's not good. Why?" she replies.

"Because," I say in English. "I'm not fluent in Japanese."

"Oh." she merely sounds. "Okay!"

Hisao accepts Misha/Hakamichi's offer. "Thanks, that would be pretty helpful. Yeah, I just kind of came straight to class today." _I hope there's an English_ _teacher here to help me with Japanese,_ I thought to myself, before I accepted the offer as well.

Hakamichi signs, Misha laughs."That's no good!" Misha exclaims, no anger or change of tone in her voice. "You should always try to learn as much as you can about where you're going before you go there. Not just with school, either. Even if it's a trip to the convenience store! Really, Shicchan?" she laughs.

Misha and Hakamichi signed back and forth, their conversation ending with a shrug on Misha's part. Hisao seemed to take this oddly hard, and Misha noticed.

Misha conveyed Hakamichi's thoughts to Hisao. "Don't take it the wrong way, please! I hate it when people are afraid to ask questions! That's how people learn, by asking! Asking for help is perfectly normal, as normal as needing help! Stop looking like you failed a test!"

Judging from how Hakamichi actually signed, Misha was merely a word translator. Any sarcasm, anger, rage, immaturity, or whatever that could be intended by Hakamichi would be literally lost in translation.

"All right," was all Hisao said in reply.

Hakamichi and Misha had another conversation, which was apparently directed to the both of us.

"Ah, and another thing," Misha relayed. "You don't have to call Shicchan something so formal like 'Hakamichi' or 'class rep' all the time! Just call her Shicchan!" She really talked with enthusiasm. A little too much.

Hakamichi apparently didn't like us referring to her as Shicchan, just like Hisao didn't like Hicchan. After a short conversation with the clearly annoyed Hakamichi, Misha turned back towards us.

"Ahaha! Okay, maybe that's too casual. Maybe 'Shizune' would be more appropriate?" Hakamichi signed what appeared to be a confirmation. "Yup, yup! 'Shizune' is fine!" God, this girl was more hyper than me when I don't take my pills.

Hisao and I agreed that'd it'd be easier to call her Shizune, even if she couldn't hear us. The girls were friendly, but there was something I was wary about. I wanted to mention it to Hisao, but I didn't get to. As I was about to ask, Shizune suddenly signed to Misha frantically.

"Huh?" Misha was even caught off-guard. "Oh, right, we haven't even touched the assignment! We should start work now, or Shicchan will get mad."

Hisao agreed, stating that starting it now would be good in order to get done, due to its length. Misha replied with another laugh and agreed. I was quiet most of the time, I realized. I looked at Shizune, only to be met with a glare. Hisao seemed to notice it, too.

We raised our hands in apprehension, saying we understood. Why I was being dragged into the glaring was another one of the many mysteries that plague me.

Shizune signed again. "After class, we can take a walk around the grounds together. It's a nice day today! Okay?" Misha translated. _Now if only we could all speak English so I'm not spending most of the time figuring out what you said._

I glanced at the assignment. Science is my shit, so I was good. Hisao complained under his breath about the length and slight challenge, but I worked diligently. I actually was the first one done, but Shizune and Misha were done about five seconds after me. Hisao was last, granted, he did just do a lot of copying. Despite our late start (and the group's American disadvantage), we were the first group to be done.

There were bells ringing, and everyone got up. I asked Hisao what for.

"Lunch," was his reply.

Neither of us have any idea where to go for lunch, so we follow the walking bubblegum bubble that is Misha. She beckons us down the stairs. She has quite a lead, so I finally ask Hisao if he can speak English.

He sighs. "Yes, but I hate English."

"Well, you have no problem speaking it, right?" I ask.

"If you don't mind my mistakes," he replied. In truth, I was always correcting people, but people who learned English as a second language were my exception.

"I won't, it's just easier to express my thoughts in English sometimes. So, if I can't say something in Japanese, I'll likely say it in English."

He seemed okay with that, and I was relieved. We followed Misha down the staircase into the lobby where we met Mutou, and continued to follow her to the cafeteria. Hisao remarked that the cafeteria was another contrast to the building's exterior. I quite heartily agreed.

Misha turned to us and became Captain Obvious. "It's the cafeteria!" _No, really?_ I thought.

Other people thought the same about her obvious statement, giving her _Dafuq?_-esque looks. Oblivious, she bounces to the line with us in tow. Hisao and I share yet another shrug.

When we got to the serving area, there were multiple menus. All in Japanese.

"Syn suka!" I cursed in Russian. Hisao raised an eyebrow at me.

I explained to him about me knowing Russian and German, as well as my tendency to swear in those languages.

Hisao just nodded. Hisao seemed like a pretty chill guy to me, so I imagined we'd be friends.

Some of the menu I could read. From what I did read, it was only large because of the kids who needed specialized diets, like diabetics or people with allergies. I mentioned this to Hisao and he agreed. He remarked that it felt like he was back in the hospital, at least before he seemed to mentally kick his balls. Apparently, he was self-conscious about what got him sent here.

We both picked a random thing, at least something that wasn't disgusting looking. We found Shizune and sat opposite of her and Misha.

As Hisao and I ate, Misha poked Hisao for Shizune. She signed something to him, which he clearly did not understand. Misha realized this and translated.

"Do you want to know something?" Misha asked for Shizune.

"What?" Hisao inquired.

"About anything! We're your guides so you should ask if there is something!"

_Well, fick dich, Misha._ _I'm not here either?_

I assumed this went for me, too. I wondered if there were any English books I the school. And by English, I meant written in English. Plus, libraries are relaxing.

"Where's the library?" I asked.

Misha didn't like my question, but Hisao must've wanted to know, too. Misha frowned for a split second, but then perked up.

"It's on the second floor! We can show you both sometime!"

Hisao and I gave our thanks. The girls carried on their own separate conversation. Hisao and I started to chat about some things. He asked me about me and I asked about him. Just getting to know each other. Finding out what got him here wasn't going to be easy, though.

We noticed the girls' conversation wasn't being translated by Misha. Girly stuff. Pfft.

Eventually, the bell rang for us to go back to class. We weren't the first ones there, but I didn't care. Thinking such a thing was a race was foolish. Hisao and both noticed the girl with the purple-ish hair passed out on her desk. It was kind of cute.

Such cuteness had to end. Misha bolted through the door like Gabe Newell going after my Steam Wallet, causing the girl to shoot up like a missile. After that, she became more tense and withdrawn. _She must be pretty shy,_ I thought. Shizune and Misha just trucked on by, not giving a fuck in the world. I could sense Hisao's concern, and mine was pretty high itself. She only became a part of our thoughts when the rest of the class assembled.

The hours trudged on by, and I saw Hisao looking at the clock, yawning during the last few minutes.

"Why so tired?" I asked.

Hisao seemed to want to dodge the question, so I just tell him that it's cool. The jet lag wasn't bad, strangely.

A few minutes later, the final bell rang, and Hisao and I got ready to leave, but Misha stopped us. Clearly, she spoke for Shizune as well.

"Unfortunately we can't show you guys around today. We've got to hurry already, since there's a lot of work for us to do." Shizune signed again. "You'll both find your way around here, I'm sure of it."

"Ah, wait!" Hisao exclaimed. "The teacher said we have to see the nurse. Where do we go?"

"Is that so? We can at least show you that much!" Hisao and I glanced at each other, another shrug given. That shrug, however, was one that basically said, "Okay."

"Come on, the nurses have their own building, so we have to go outside." Misha called as she and Shizune headed into the hall.

Hisao and I both followed, joining the stream of students eager to leave the building. The two girls pointed out several other senior classrooms along the way. Eventually, we made it outside and they led us to the smaller building next to the school. It blended in with the main building.

Again, Shizune signed something that Misha translated. "This is the auxiliary building here. There's a lot of official and important stuff inside, like the Yamaku Foundation office and all the nurses' offices. They even have a swimming pool!" _Need. More. Japanese. Knowledge,_ I thought.

"How is that official?" Hisao asked for the both of us. Though I was still processing what Misha said, I wondered the same.

Shizune signed with some annoyance. "Don't be silly Hicchan! It's for physical therapy of course." Yet another shrug was shared. So many shrugs. "Anyway, all the nursing staff facilities are in there too. The head nurse's office is on the first floor. You'll be fine from here, right? We'll be going, then! See you tomorrow!"

We thanked them and said goodbye. After they left, Hisao looked at me. "A whole building for stuff that has nothing to do with the actual education?" he wondered aloud.

"Well, there's a swimming pool... and look at this place. Kind of necessary," I reasoned.

"Point taken," Hisao admitted as we walked into the building. We both hoped it was only a quick visit. Hisao quickly spotted the head nurse's office and he knocked. Apparently, we were invited in, because Hisao entered. The room was strange smelling, not that big, and occupied by a man who radiated friendliness. The desk was typical of a doctor's, even by American standards. Coffee rings, tidy, overflowing wastebasket... Typical. The man was smiling at us, too. Strangely, it was not unnerving.

"Hello there. What can I do for you today?" he asked, politely.

"Erm, are you the nurse?" Hisao asked. _Facepalm._

Strangely, the nurse just beamed. "Why yes, I am. It says so on the door, no?" Took it in stride. "You can call me by my name or just 'the nurse' like everyone else."

He had his hand extended to Hisao for a handshake, which is eventually noticed by Hisao. After the shake, the nurse turns to me, shaking my hand. It was a firm handshake.

"Right," Hisao hesitated. "Err, we're new students and our homeroom teacher told us to come and meet you. My name is Hisao Nakai."

"And I'm Adolf Riese," I said.

The nurse appeared to have an epiphany on the john, snapping his fingers.

"I was reading both of your files this morning. Strange, you both have arrhythmia and congenital heart defects." He gestured to a pair of empty seats for us to sit in. We sat, acknowledging this. Hisao seemed uncomfortable that I knew he was here due to arrhythmia, too, but his must be more severe. I was sent here due to having so many more minor things, at least I thought so.

"Good. Well, you two have probably been briefed about the school enough, so I'll go over this quick. We have all kinds of facilities available, mostly physical therapy and such. There's always someone from my staff around, even at night, so never hesitate to call us if there is a problem." He said this to me in English and to Hisao in Japanese.

"Wow, this is like a hospital," Hisao remarked, not thinking.

"Well, not exactly. For instance we don't do - - here." _Well, shit. I now have met something I do not know,_ I dryly thought.

"You don't do what?" I asked in Japanese.

"Brain surgery," he replied in English. Then I laughed a little on the inside. Hisao mustn't have found it funny, so he ignored it.

"Yeah... just that it's really weird to have so many medical people at a school," Hisao said.

"You'll get used to it," he reassured both of us. "Now, Nakai, let me find your file again." He started searching for Hisao's file. Meanwhile, Hisao and I examined the room out of boredom. I found it very plain, typical to a normal doctor's office. The nurse returns, drawing two thick folders from a family of overweight folders.

"Alright... Nakai," he opened Hisao's folder. "You already have your medication for the arrhythmia, just remember to take your pills every morning and evening. Otherwise, it's no help. Apart from that... do you do any sports? Rash stuff like... I don't know, -?" More that I didn't know.

Hisao seems uncomfortable, but tells the nurse he used to play soccer with friends. The nurse recommends that Hisao refrains from doing so at the present time. Hisao was actually fine with that, it seemed, causing the nurse to raise his eyebrow.

"Any kind of - might be very dangerous to your heart and risking another attack is not a good idea. Was the previous one caused by a sudden - to the chest area? There is no mention of the cause in your papers."

"Err... Not exactly." Hisao didn't seem as uncomfortable as before, just annoyed. Clearly he didn't want people knowing his ailment. However, it seemed as though he managed to avoid further questioning, because the nurse didn't press any further on that topic. Instead, he turns to me, setting Hisao's folder aside and opening mine.

"Okay, Riese..." he said in English, glancing at my file. "Your medication list was e-mailed to me a few days ago. You have some medicines for _your_ arrhythmia, a new ADHD prescription, acid reflux pills..." he named a few more medicines, promptly producing a bag full of medication bottles as he stopped reading the list. He handed me the bag and continued talking. "It says you were in a car accident? That's what caused your condition to surface?" I nodded. "Any sports?"

"I used to play hockey, on and off ice," I answered in my native tongue.

"Well, there aren't many places around here that you can play ice or dek hockey, not that I'd recommend it anyway. The doctors in Pittsburgh made it imperative that you don't worsen your arrhythmia or cause your hernia to move too much. Even if _your_ arrhythmia is minor, it can still be life-threatening." I was glad to hear English again. The way he said '_your_' implied that he compared my arrhythmia to Hisao's. Plus, I couldn't complain. I preferred Xbox anyway.

He started talking in Japanese, to us both. "Still, you need to keep your bodies healthy so some exercise would do you two good. We have physical therapy and such available as I said, but I don't think either of you really need such heavy measures. Just get some light exercise regularly. - walks or even light jogging, - rope, that sort of thing. Swimming, maybe? There's a pool here."

"So we were told," Hisao said.

"You were? Very good," the nurse commented. "At any rate, and I'm sure you've both been told this before, you just need to take care not to - yourselves." I think he meant 'overwork yourselves' or something. And yes, I was told this. Several times. The nurse continued, wagging his finger for unneeded emphasis. "Absolutely _no_ unnecessary risks. Take care of yourselves."

"Okay," Hisao and I said simultaneously. The nurse looked over our files once more, then set them on his desk.

"Good. That's it, then. Come meet me if either of you ever need something." He then willed us out of the office.

"A quick visit, indeed," Hisao remarked. I nodded.

We walked out and stared at the buildings. Actually, we watched the students going to and fro. Many of whom either went to the gates or dorms.

"Everyone seems to know where they're going," Hisao mumbled. I acted like I didn't hear him. I notice how normal a multitude of the students look, making me feel like even more of a dick than before.

Hisao started off towards the dorms, even though his stomach growled loud enough for me to hear. I followed, starting another conversation. Smalltalk. As we walked, I just noticed the garden-esque path between the dorms and the school. It was very nice and the cut grass smell was just as pleasing. We reached the dorms and I noticed some strange mass of white paint on the bricks for the first time. I didn't pay attention too well.

We entered the dorms and Hisao fished around in his pocket for some time and produced a key.

"Room one-one-nine..." he read aloud.

Room 119 was right next to my room. So he was my neighbor.

"Follow me, I'm in room one-eighteen," I beckoned. He seemed confused. "I arrived at six this morning," I explained. I guess he got my point, because his face didn't seem questioning anymore.

The halls were rather wide, unsurprisingly. More details I didn't take in. We passed by the common room, where more guys were watching TV. After more dismissive nods and one "hello," I figured that not many guys were sociable. Or we were repulsive. Regardless, he followed me up the stairs, and I led him to room 119. Room 117 had the light on again, and it seemed that Hisao was curious, too, so he knocked on the door.

"Hello, is anyone home?" he asked the room. We hear movement and many locks being unlocked. Instead of a shrug, Hisao and I share raised eyebrows.

The door opened, revealing a boy with thick glasses, a scarf, and messy black hair. _Holy shit, it's the Japanese Harry Potter,_ I thought.

"Who is it?" the boy asks, his face grim. Clearly his eyesight was worse than mine. Much worse, because he leaned in towards me and Hisao so much, we could smell his garlic breath. I didn't know he was also Wario.

Hisao and I introduced ourselves. At this, Wario Potter's grim expression lightened up and he stood back, shooting both hands out for handshakes. He almost impaled us.

"Oh, 'sup dudes? The name's Kenji," the former Wario Potter enlightened us.

"Ah, hi," Hisao replied. We each shook a sweaty hand. Kenji seemed like he could PMS without the necessary parts.

Kenji turned towards Hisao. "There were some suspicious-looking people going in and out of your room earlier."

"It was probably my parents," Hisao said dismissively.

Kenji scowled. "Your parents? You sure? Because they could've been some other people, too. You can't judge a book by its cover." That wasn't exactly a good phrase for this situation. In fact, it was stupid to say it.

"I'd say the chances are high enough," Hisao replied, regardless. I think he thought the same thing about Kenji's poor usage of such sayings.

At this, Kenji shudders, and starts gesturing with his hands. "You are a brave man, Hisao. Me, I don't think I could trust the chances. The only one I trust is myself," he said.

"Does that mean we shouldn't get to know you, either?" Hisao questioned.

Kenji apparently forgot I was there, as Hisao's use of "we" took him back. Kenji thought for a bit on Hisao's question.

"A wise decision," Kenji decided. "Damn, you two are smarter than you look. Probably. What do I look like? I hope not smart." He squints and leans towards us. Hisao and I are both uncomfortable, so we lean back. Kenji relented. "Never mind, it doesn't matter."

Kenji turns and his hands search for the door handle. He finds it and shuts the door behind him.

"That was... interesting," I said to Hisao.

"Yes, yes it was," Hisao agreed. Kenji was one odd person, and his first impression encapsulated that.

"Either way, here's one-nineteen," I told Hisao.

"Thanks," he replied, sliding the key into the slot. He entered his room, and from what I saw before he closed the door, it was rather plain, just like my room. Except, more plain.

I shook my head and walked into my room. I wanted to see if there was Wi-Fi, but I didn't. I was rather tired, so I flopped on my bed. That is, until I remember the bag of pills still in my hand. I sat up and arranged the bottles on the stand next to the bed. All of the bottles were labeled in English. Vyvanse, Prevacid, Inderal, and Abilify among other medications. All of them were prescribed to "Riese, Adolf" in a font similar to Comic Sans. My life is now a joke. Comic Sans isn't a business or serious kind of font.

Since I was already up, I decided to plug in my electronic possessions and organize the area around my Xbox. My Xbox was underneath the TV (there was an entertainment center of sorts), the games neatly organized. My laptop was on the desk, battery charger plugged in the wall. I set aside clothes to exercise in, putting my hockey equipment in the closet. I brought two sticks for some reason. Too bad I wasn't likely to play hockey here. I set the schoolbooks next to my laptop. I had English and Japanese textbooks, due to my unique disposition.

With most of my organization done, I turned on my iPod, searching for Wi-Fi. There was an open access point that was strong. Satisfied, I lied back down on my bed, thinking about the events of the day as I fell asleep. I already made a friend and if I didn't understand something in Japanese, enough people knew a good deal of English.

Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.

**AN: I apologize in advance. The first few chapters cover the first week, day-by-day. So, the chapters will be long. After that, when Act 2 would start, WE GET SOME GOOD STUFF! Also, there may be moments when Adolf switches between past-tense and present-tense. I blame ADHD.**


	3. Dictatorship

Chapter 3: Dictatorship

I woke up at seven-thirty in the morning the next day. A feeling foreign to me in the States. In Japan, classes started at eight-thirty, as opposed to the seven-fifty regiment of America. Plus, I didn't have to catch a bus nearly an hour prior to class, so it was _extremely_ foreign to me.

I yawned, getting up out of bed and heading to the showers at the end of the hall. Kenji didn't pop out, which I was relieved by. He was an odd fellow. I took a fifteen minute long shower, dried off, brushed my teeth, and went back to my room. I sat on my bed in my underwear, staring at my medicine. Some of it I had been taking for years. I forewent taking the ADHD and acid reflux medicine, because the medicine usually did nothing to help. Even though I'm diagnosed with ADHD, I'm surprisingly calm. I took most of the other pills, though, water flowing down my gullet. I gagged at the taste and drank more water. I took another look around and just noticed what appeared to be a mini-fridge. _This room holds too many secrets, _I thought, until I remembered seeing it the night before.

I got up and took a gander at my closet. School uniforms. Wearing casual clothes for most of your life and never really having to wear a uniform really messes with you when you do have to wear a uniform. It felt incredibly awkward wearing a school uniform, even if could be business casual-like. Just a shirt and tie with matching shoes and pants was more than enough for me. That was about as comfortable as I would be with these uniforms. I threw one on yesterday, but in the rush to class, I didn't have time to dwell on it.

It was only eight when I left the dorms. Hisao was up, but I didn't want to be imposing. Instead, I went to the cafeteria, hoping that they served breakfast. Entering the school, I noticed that not many people got up early. Most must leave the dorms at about eight-fifteen. I walked down to the cafeteria and, sure enough, they served breakfast. I was a happy camper.

I opted for some eggs, toast, and bacon. Taking the rather American dish to an empty table, I sat down and dug in. Bacon is a man's food, and the bacon that I got was perfectly chewy. I prefer chewy bacon. Chewy bacon is best bacon.

Finishing the dish, I disposed of my utensils and checked the time. Eight-twenty. I was about to go to homeroom, then I realized I left my books in the dorm. "Scheiße," I swore as I ran up out of the cafeteria, out of the school, and back to the dorms.

In my race against time back to the dorms, I passed Hisao and we exchanged a short greeting. A very brief one. I ran across the grounds, into the dorms, up the stairs, and into my room, the whole process taking three minutes. I was proud of myself. As I exited the dorms again, textbooks in hand, I was surprised that no-one seemed to notice my running. Forgetting your stuff must be easy. I made it back to the school and walked to homeroom. I arrived with one minute to spare. Success. I took my seat next to Hisao and he looked at me.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Forgot my books," I responded, out of breath. Hisao seemed to understand and posed no further statements.

Waiting for Mutou was boring. He didn't seem like a late kind of guy. People trickled into homeroom even ten minutes after it started. I decided to pose a question to Hisao.

"How long are homeroom periods?"

"About as long as those in the United States," he replied. It seemed that Japanese schools were not only vastly different than American schools, they were also very similar. "Here, though," Hisao started, interrupting my thoughts. "That, I don't know. It could be longer or shorter."

_I meant in general,_ I thought. I knew Hisao wouldn't know _this_ school's homeroom period length, but I didn't bring it up. It was quiet, for the most part. Mutou eventually entered the classroom and started teaching.

Mutou was speaking, and I tried to pay attention, but my biggest problem was that he was speaking his native language. So, I sort of just found what he was talking about (what I understood anyway) in the English-written book and taught myself. Surprisingly, even though I didn't realize it the day prior, I already knew most of this stuff.

Eventually, Mutou had us break off into groups, passing out assignments. Again, I got a paper that was translated into English. The groups were the same as the previous day. Hisao looked as though he had a question, and he did, after he got Shizune's attention.

"Are there any clubs here?" he asked.

Shizune must've been able to read lips, because she tried signing something to Hisao, but it fell on blind eyes. Shizune became clearly frustrated at Misha, who was so intent on grinding her eraser to have a perfectly even and flat top, it could have been a matter of saving the planet. From... anti-eraser monsters...

Shizune caught Misha's intention, glaring at her. Misha just laughed, as usual.

"Sorry, sorry, Shicchan! Is there something you wanted from me?" Shizune signs to Misha again. "Oh... I see! Hm... That's a good question, Hicchan."

Glancing at Hisao, it seems as though he is worried that they don't know, but Misha speaks up again. Shizune must've signed again.

"Oh, that's right! Everyone is encouraged to join a club. A lot of people do so because there isn't really anything else to do. There are also school events, like the - coming up in a few days. Almost every student in the school tends to help out with it, doing whatever. So!" she perks up, looking at me as well. "You two actually transferred at a busy time... maybe you can help out, too!"

I still had no idea whatever the hell it was that was coming up.

"Wait," I said. "What's coming up in a few days?"

Misha was taken aback by my question, but then she laughs again. "Oh right! I forgot, Adolf-chan!" she said in Japanese. She then switched to English. "It's a party, like a really big one!"

"Like... a festival?" I asked.

"Yup!" she said and then laughed. "So, what do you say? Want to help?" she asked, in Japanese.

There was a Fall Festival when I was in middle school, but it was rather small and pathetic. It was during school hours, too. I wasn't sure, so I remained silent.

"Sure," Hisao said. "What's the festival about?" I learned a new word, so I was happy. However, Hisao's question has an effect on Misha, one that'd make you think she got shot. At least it would, if she didn't abruptly laugh yet again.

"I don't know, Hicchan, the truth is it's a local event, and I'm not from this area, so..." her statement punctuated by a series of signs to Shizune. Shizune adjusts her glasses with exaggerated finesse and starts signing like a bat out of hell.

"Huh? Oh," was what Misha said after the flurry of signing. She then turned to Hisao and I. "Who cares?" she said, puffing out her chest with too much pride. She shouted the words at us, as always, so I assumed that some eyebrows were raised. In fact, heads turned.

"Not so loud..." Hisao said, trying to quiet Misha. We had a similar concern about her volume it seemed.

Shizune signed something to Misha. "Human beings evolve with each new -! The ideals and beliefs behind a festival will - change with time!" I assumed the words I didn't know were 'generation' and something about how absolute change was.

Shizune signed again, which Misha relayed to me and Hisao. "Now, it's about delicious fried food and amusing little games that you play to win prizes!" Run Program: laughter dot exe.

Misha was incredibly loud, and the teacher cleared his throat rather loud in retaliation, giving us a stern stare. Misha becomes embarrassed and shuts up, but Shizune still has a don't-give-a-fuck attitude. Then again, she's deaf, so she couldn't give one, but she does give a sign.

"We are in the middle of class, and should start working," Misha translates, her voice dulled from embarrassment. "That's right, Shicchan!" Misha then acknowledges, her voice returning from the dead. Shizune signs some more, a mischievous look taking over her face. "What? That's right! Hicchan, are you asking because you two are interested in joining a club?" Congratulations Misha and Shizune. You surpass Captain Obvious.

The pair glanced at each other. Hisao looked at me, probably about the club thing. I shrugged and nodded my head at the same time. The universal "Sure, why not?"

"Yeah, we were thinking about it," Hisao responds to the duo, who share yet another glance. I tuned Misha out, because she kept talking, and I notice something out of the corner of my eye. Actually, two things. First, the girl who was sleeping after lunch the day before, until Misha Gabe Newelled into the room, got up and slipped out of the room like Solid Snake. Second, Hisao noticed as well. We glanced at each other.

"I don't think she was working with anyone," I said to Hisao, and he agreed. He glances at the teacher, who I can see out of the corner of my eye. The teacher is watching the girl leave, too, but says nothing. Hisao and I glance at each other once more, an unspoken "What the hell?" between us. Misha notices us. Again.

"Is something wrong?" she asked. We must have shown more on our faces than we knew.

"Nein," I reply.

"No, nothing," Hisao replies.

Shizune may have seen through our ruse, but her signing to Misha didn't reveal any knowledge of such. "Okay! Well, like we were asking, neither of you have any plans for lunch, do you?"

I didn't want to spend lunch with the two, honestly. Given what happened the day before, I felt Misha would take my food as I start eating, shout "Adolf-chan! This! Is! FOOD!", and subsequently kick me down a hole. I didn't find that pleasing, but I was still hungry. I actually wanted to browse the inventory of literature at this school. However, that probably would be a good idea at lunch.

After a pause, Hisao answered Misha. "Not really," was his response. I assumed I was automatically grouped in, regardless.

Both girls' faces lit up. "Do you want to have lunch together then?"

I wanted to say no, but Hisao gave me a look that said we couldn't escape. "Sure," he answered.

Shizune smiled and signed to Misha. I swore she could read lips. "Yay!" Misha exclaimed, followed by more laughter. "Okay! Perfect!"

One look at Hisao following this confirmed that he didn't want to go either. At least we had each other, as weird as that sounds.

We got a late start on the assignment, my blame being placed on Misha. We worked through the rest of class, and got finished not long before we were told it was time to stop. Shizune glared at us, and I got the feeling she was annoyed at our procrastination and imperfect finish.

"Hey, it's not like a contest," I mused, without thinking.

This seemed to rustle a jimmy, because she signed to Misha. "Yes it is, Adolf-chan!" Misha said for Shizune.

"Unlikely." I denied such a label for busywork.

"Really?" Misha challenged.

"Really," I said. That's when I noticed something odd. Misha was signing what I said to Shizune. I noticed her moving her hands when she talked, but I just thought she was part-Italian. The only reason I realized it then was because she made the same gesture twice. So Shizune couldn't read lips.

Hisao came to my defense. "It's not a contest. Contests are competitions over a prize," he said.

"And we get no prize for being first on something like this, right? No prize, no contest," I said, backing up Hisao.

This doesn't seem to deter Shizune. Her eyes light up, as if a new challenger appeared. She gives us this challenging stare. _I think she wants to fight,_ I thought.

Misha translates another sign. "Are you two sure?"

_Damn straight, fool,_ I wanted to say, but Hisao and I just affirmed our position on the matter. Shizune commenced another sentence to Misha, who laughed before she translated, as usual.

"You two are wrong! Becaaauuse," she drew out 'because.' "I don't want to be the slowest one in the class. Therefore, what's on the line is my confidence in my abilities, and the prize is the satisfaction of proving them." Misha punctuated this with, guess what? Another laugh. Shizune punctuated it with a push of her glasses up her nose.

Hisao and I gave each other a glance, our eyes showing that we were ready to fight, but before our assault can be launched, the lunch bell sounded. They were quite literally saved by the bell. Shizune picked up her bag, apparently waiting for us. Hisao and I got up. He seemed to have forgotten the arrangement that was made. We walked into the hall and Shizune and Misha trap us, Shizune on Hisao's right side and Misha on my left.

Shizune signs. "Where do you want to eat?" Misha relays.

I look at Hisao. "The cafeteria?" I ask. He shrugs in response, as if to say, "Sure."

Misha has another laughing fit. "That's _so_ plain... Okay! Let's go!"

_What? Where else are we going to eat?_ I thought.

Misha and Shizune escorted us to the cafeteria. While waiting in line, I noticed that it wasn't so different from American school. Kids with lunchboxes and such. The only thing reminding me that I was in Japan was the Japanese writing. And the Japanese themselves, but that's irrelevant. I grabbed what seemed to be a soyburger. I didn't think I'd get any American cuisine here. We sat and ate, and after we I ate, Misha got back to brass tax.

"So, Hicchan, Adolf-chan... You wanted to know about clubs and stuff, right? Right?" Shizune signed again. "Right, Shicchan! Okay, I guess it makes sense to ask first." They nodded as if they were readying up for a military op.

"Do either of you have anything you're really interested in?" Misha asked.

Hisao told them how he used to play soccer, but had no passion for the sport. He also mentioned how much he read a lot lately.

I told them how I played hockey, but unlike Hisao, I actually followed the sport I played somewhat. I also mentioned that I played video games and, like Hisao, read a lot.

Misha and Shizune took into account our mutual reading interest. "Hm... There is a book club, right, Shicchan? Right! But! It seems like they have all the members they could possibly have right now. Sorry, guys... It's a really popular club." Shizune signed again. "Ah, okay! But, more to the point, does this mean that neither of you have anything already in mind?"

Hisao and I shook our heads. Shizune signed once more, happily it seemed.

"Good! Great! That's great! Really great!" Misha exclaimed, launching again.

I cocked my head. "What do you mean, 'that's great?'"

Misha smiled deviously. "No reason." I grunted. "Well, Adolf-chan, other than clubs and the upcoming festival, there is one other thing..." She glanced at Shizune. "Student Council!"

They wanted to recruit Hisao and I into the ranks of their drill army. I knew that Student Councils existed in Japan, but not here. Let alone that Misha and Shizune were in it. They didn't outright say it, but why else would they bring it up? Their recruitment pitch was rather poorly delivered though, which the two girls seem to notice. Shizune seemed embarrassed. Misha seemed... like Misha.

Shizune regained control of the situation. She signed, Misha being her voicebox. Following another successful launch of , Misha spoke.

"Right, right... Hicchan, Adolf-chan, maybe you should join the Student Council! They could use more people. Yes! Definitely! You should definitely join!"

"Why?" Hisao and I both said.

"Well," Misha started. "For one, we could hang out every day! Shicchan and I are both on the Student Council." Suspicions confirmed. "Actually, Shicchan is the president." Unexpected.

I knew Student Councils in the States were absolutely boring. And pointless. The girls were nice to me, but I felt that they wanted Hisao and I to join to have manpower. Not to mention Shizune seemed to have a clear attraction to Hisao. I mean, I'd help them if they wanted, I just wouldn't join the council. For all I knew, I'd be working my ass off, and I don't like that.

Apparently, some concern showed on one of our faces, because Shizune started signing again, and Misha started the translation, laughing as always.

"Of course, we're not trying to get you to join just because we would obviously benefit from you two joining the Student Council and therefore have an - to try and get you to-"

"So, you're admitting that-" Hisao interrupted, before getting interrupted by some signing himself.

Misha laughed, as she always has. "No! We admit nothing!" Now she's a PoW. "I mean, of course it would be nice if you guys joined, and we'd appreciate it. But even without all that, joining the Student Council shows a healthy interest in the workings of one's school. Yup! It's true. Besides, don't you two want to spend time with us after school?"

I started to feel bad, because they seemed sincere, and they used their natural beauty to their advantage. By that, I mean that they were doing their damnedest to be adorable, just to sway our opinion. I resisted the pull of the Dark Side as much as possible, but Hisao reached the event horizon.

"Well..." Hisao audibly considered.

Shizune signed, cuing Misha to speak. "So it's settled, then. Welcome to the Student Council, Hicchan!" She then turned to me, waiting for my response. She only gazed at me for a second, though, thanks to Hisao.

"What?" he said, shocked. "No. No!" He escaped the pull.

"Nope," was my reaction to Misha when she turned toward me.

"Awww..." Misha whined, her voice sounding adorable. "See, Shicchan? Of course it wouldn't go so easily." Shizune signed her response. "Yup! That's right, though, it would be boring if it went that smoothly. Oh well! Shicchan owes me candy now!"

Hisao and I were both taken aback by such... bullshit.

"You were betting on this?" I asked. "Seriously? Our lives are serious business."

"Yeah, it's no game," Hisao said, equally offended. Misha signs our responses to Shizune. Shizune's game face is put back on, and she signs to Misha.

Misha laughs. "That's interesting, Hicchan. Let's play a game!" _Oh god, she's Jigsaw._

"That's not what I said," Hisao protested.

"How about Rich Man, Poor Man? If either of you lose, you both have to join the Student Council!" Misha persisted.

Hisao refused. "No, absolutely not." I agreed with Hisao.

"Aw, why not?" Misha complained.

"You two want both of us to join the Student Council, our fate hinging on the outcome of a game," I said. I wondered how I learned those words in Japanese.

Shizune signed. "Yup!" was Misha's translation.

"Your goal is to get us to join the Student Council. That's not our goal. Plus, I have no idea what Rich Man, Poor Man is, so Hisao and I will be clearly disadvantaged," I stated.

Shizune signed to Misha. "Adolf-chan! I'm very offended! Are you saying you don't trust us, and that we would pull something so -...?" I didn't understand the last word, but given Misha's stumbling over it, she didn't either. "That makes me sad..."

I apologized in a confused way. I was beginning to wonder who was sad. My apology was left in hell when Misha translated what Shizune signed.

"In order to - for hurting a young girl's feelings, you both should definitely join the Student Council!" Misha said, trying to be serious.

Hisao beat me to the punch. "No!"

Shizune signed again and Misha perked up. "How about a game of paper football, instead of Rich Man, Poor Man?"

"Not paper football," I grumbled. Hisao, however, was confused as to what paper football was.

"It's a game they play in America! Right, Adolf-chan?" I begrudgingly nodded. I hate paper football. Misha briefly explained the point of paper football. "Isn't it cool? It's the ultimate form of competition between two people, Hicchan!"

"I beg to differ," I said. Paper football is not ultimate at all. However, I am ignored by Misha, though Hisao looks to me for an explanation of why I beg to differ. Shizune signed again, meaning I couldn't explain to Hisao.

"And it's also played by elementary and middle school children, Shicchan?" Misha laughed. "That means it's a game that really separated the boys from the men!"

"More like the boys from the slightly older boys," Hisao commented.

"Actually, neither. No one in America really plays it competitively. American football is what some claim to separate the boys from the men. Others claim other games or sports do, but no one has ever said that paper football did," I interjected. Misha gave me a quizzical look, but Hisao continued, seeming satisfied with my interjection.

"Anyway, I'm not going to play that either. Just the fact that you know about it means you're probably good at it," he said.

Misha laughed. "Yeah, yeah, that's true! How did you know, Hicchan?"

While Hisao and I exchange yet another look expressing our thoughts, Shizune frowns at Misha. Looks like someone lost the nuclear launch codes. Though Hisao and I are adamant in our refusal, he seems slightly interested. I wasn't. Misha and Shizune had another trick up their sleeve, it seemed.

"Okay, how about Risk? The game of world domination!" Misha exclaimed.

My face lit up. _Oh my god,_ I thought. _I love Risk!_ I played 4chan Risk once, which was very confusing. Then I played regular Risk, which was very fun, and one of the few board games I enjoyed. Hisao, however, said he didn't know what Risk was. I started to wonder what he did know.

Shizune must've seen the look on my face, because her face lit up, too. _She reeled someone in._ Misha still talking. "It's really fun, Hicchan. You fight for control of the world, with armies and everything. If you want to play, we can after school." Shizune signed again. "Ah, really, Shicchan? We can play just for fun. Shicchan hasn't played in a long time, so if you two want to, there are no strings attached!"

I wanted to scream "It's a trap!" but I didn't. I also wanted to giggle at "no strings attached." I hoped that they weren't lying, so I accepted the offer. Misha and Shizune already expected me to. Hisao also accepted the offer, surprisingly.

Misha seemed happy. "Okay! Okay, okay! Perfect! We'll see you after school in the Student Council room, then!" I had no idea where that was.

"Wait, why there?" Hisao asked. That, too, was a good question.

"Because! That's where we keep the game!" Misha laughed.

Hisao was unconvinced that the two were serious about the game being just for fun, so he persisted in making sure that they understood that neither of us mean anything solid about joining the godforsaken Student Council.

Lunch passed uneventfully and we left for class. The mere thought of playing Risk was exciting, but Shizune seemed like she was a pro.

The only notable thing that happened after lunch was the dark haired girl returning. Again, no one cared. Confusing.

The class itself passed rather boringly. After the final bell sounded, Hisao and I headed to the lobby. Shizune and Misha showed up and latched onto Hisao from both sides. Apparently he was target number one and I didn't mind.

Hisao's face shows shock, then offense, then concern. "What's with the escort? This is uncomfortable." He seemed more than uncomfortable.

Misha laughed. "What's wrong, Hicchan?" Shizune signed to Misha. "That's right, we're just going to go play a game of Risk, remember?" Hisao's face shows that he thinks they're full of shit. Misha turns to me and tells me to follow. Why I did, I don't know. I could've ran, but they probably would have called in air support.

As it turns out, the student council room was near the lobby. This made Hisao even more displeased. He started complaining about them being on top of him due to the close proximity of the room, calling it silly.

"That's not true, Hicchan," Misha said for her and Shizune. "Shicchan says that when their life is threatened, people have shown the capability to pull off superhuman bursts of speed."

It seemed that Hisao's worst fears were confirmed. "'Life is threatened?'" he asked.

Misha and Shizune seem to find humor in this. I realize I could have left a long time ago, given their want to threaten Hisao's life, but Risk was pulling me in. Misha pretended she couldn't hear Hisao. This irritated him.

They walk us into the room, Misha running back and pulling on me so I couldn't escape. She dragged me into the room. Okay, I wasn't dragged, but it felt like it. A co-operative drag. The room itself was seemingly larger than a classroom, but rather drab. It was just so plain. There was what could've passed as a teacher's desk. Probably Shizune's desk. Surrounding it were tables that doubled as desks. It was disturbingly empty, although, I had no clue how Japanese student councils worked.

"Are we early?" Hisao asked. Apparently, he expected more people.

"No," Misha replied.

Hisao wouldn't take no for an answer. "What do you mean 'no?' Does it mean nobody else is coming today?"

"Yeah, that's right," Misha replied with a grin. _Oh god, they're gonna rape us,_ I ruefully thought.

Before either of us can question, Shizune claps her hands really loud.

"Let's play Risk! Come on, you promised, didn't you? You guys have to!" Misha laughed. "Okay okay okay! Hicchan, do you want to know the rules? We can explain everything while we set up!"

Misha starts explaining how to play to Hisao. Shizune reaches behind a filing cabinet and flings the Risk box onto a table. Misha spends a while explaining how to play to Hisao. This upset Shizune, and after Misha is done, Shizune declares the game a start.

I started in Germany and took over Europe and Russia. I effectively kept Shizune out, who started in Japan and took over most of Asia and North America. Misha was in Africa, no one paying her any mind. Hisao however, started in Chile and expanded to most of South America and Australia. Hisao wasn't doing bad for a beginner, but he was the unfortunate target of Shizune. She launched an assault on the Land Down Under from two fronts, and Hisao was having trouble deciding how to deal with his predicament. This annoyed Shizune, who whacked her fingers off of the desk, breaking Hisao's concentration. She signed to Misha.

"Hicchan, Shicchan wants you to know that you are taking too long to make a move. Shicchan also says that she'll let you keep Australia if you agree to join the Student Council!" So much for a fun game.

"I thought this was a game with no strings attached," Hisao said. He wasn't pleased, either. He was hard-pressed in deciding what to do, too. "And anyway: No!" he added.

Misha received another message. "Shicchan admires your fighting spirit and would be a - dictator who will spare your people if you agree to join the Student Council!" She laughed some more.

Hisao was ready to drop the gloves and I just wanted my turn. Shizune spread herself a little thin and I wanted to topple her empire.

"You're so competitive, Shizune," Hisao criticized. Shizune, however, takes this as a compliment. "I would expect the Student Council president to be a little more -."

Misha tried to sound out the word, as she didn't know it either. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote the word down for Shizune, who signed it back. Misha made an attempt to literally force the signing of the word into her mind.

I asked Hisao for a synonym for the word. "Generous," was his reply after a long thought.

Shizune suddenly starts signing like crazy. Misha is startled by the suddenness of the signing.

"Ah, wait, please slow down, Shicchan..." Misha tried to keep up. "Um, Hicchan! Shicchan says you're going to lose!"

Hisao seems to not care. "Tell her I will crush her world empire with my rebellion." Misha complied.

I'm left on the sidelines. It was good, actually, because Shizune seemed to forget my presence. She had an ornery glint in her eyes from Hisao's declaration of independence. Misha translated Shizune's signing that followed.

"She says you have no chance if you keep playing like this, no you won't!"

Hisao was on the defensive for a while, and I secretly hoped he started to be offensive. If he did, I could wipe out Shizune.

Hisao took Shizune's bait. Hisao sacrificed his hold in South America and Australia to try and control more small nations. Shizune went for the big nations, and my control of all of Europe brought her some grief. Hisao's assault didn't take Shizune by surprise. My sudden conquering of several of her largest nations did. Thanks to Hisao, I toppled the Hakamichi Empire in Asia and the United States. Misha was still in Africa, and it was pointless to go there. She barely even conquered any place in Africa. Hisao was left with Australia, and I made an alliance with him. Shizune was repelled into Canada, and an assault from Europe, Russia, and the newly conquered United States brought her empire to an end.

I won the game, and this upset Shizune at first, but then she gave me a competitive look. Maybe I should've lost.

Misha relayed to us Shizune's feelings. She was impressed by Hisao's skills as a beginner. Towards me, though, it seemed like this was a war far from over.

After some idle chatter between the two, Shizune leans towards us, looking serious. I already knew where this was going.

Shizune signed to Misha. "Would you like to join the Student Council?" _Okay, I beat you. Why am I going to join?_ I thought. But I was far too nice to be a dick.

"Maybe," Hisao said. "I'll get back to you on it."

The girls looked at me. _Oh god, not the cute faces, oh god,_ I started to mentally tremble. I hate when girls do that. "Uh... Let me sleep on it," I forced out. Shizune stepped back and signed to Misha.

"Okay! But, I hope you're not just saying that so we don't feel bad," Misha translated.

Hisao and I shared a glance. I _was_ but he wasn't. "No, really," he said.

"Really?" Misha asked, hands on her hips. Then she smiled. "If you're going to say that, you're saying that it is definitely the truth, and there can't be _any_ mistaking it!"

"I know, I know," Hisao mumbled.

I glanced at the clock and noticed we've played for a while. Knowing that Hisao wanted to check out the library too, I tapped him on the shoulder, pointing at the clock. I then turned towards the girls following a nod on his part.

"Sorry, we have to go. We wanted to visit the library." I glance at the clock again. "Is it still open?"

Neither of the girls seem to know, despite being in the Student Council and having a clock right behind them.

"It should be," Misha translates for Shizune. "Unless the librarian is absent. I think you're right, Shicchan. We... think the library is open. It's on the second floor. Can't miss it. Do you want us to show you where it is?"

Hisao and I politely declined, telling them we'll see them tomorrow. The girls sent us off, and we left. However, as we got to the second floor, a problem presents itself: the second floor was the third's twin, layout-wise. We then ran into another pickle: classrooms were marked, but others were not.

We set off, searching for the library. During our search, an ajar door caught my eye. I pointed it out to Hisao and he shrugged. We decided to enter the room, hoping it is the library. Opening the door gently, it creaked rather loud. I started to wonder if we should open the door, but it's too late. Hisao already had his head poked through to see if someone was there and he just stopped. He stopped, and the door was still moving from me. Hisao barely caught himself, almost tripping to the ground. I stifled a laugh and opened the door the rest of the way, to see what made Hisao stop.

"What the hell, Hisao?" I muttered in English before laying eyes on what petrified Hisao. In the room was a lone girl. She was quite attractive, but she didn't seem Japanese. While I regained hold of myself, Hisao was a goddamn rock. The blonde girl was drinking tea, rather calm and collected. She seemed like an uppity kind of girl, given her posture. She definitely heard our clumsy entrance, gingerly replacing the teacup on the saucer. The girl opened her eyes, staring at the wall.

"Hello there. May I help you?" she asked, her voice rather... calculated. Her way of pronouncing Japanese words made it easy to understand her.

She's fairly tall. Even sitting down, her height can be imagined. Hisao looked like he just crapped his pants, so I answered the girl.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, we were lost and didn't know anyone was in here," I explained. She seemed to think of a good response for a few seconds.

"Care to take a seat?" the girl asked, waving her hand lazily towards the general direction of another chair. Hisao seemed utterly shocked by such politeness, but I didn't pay any heed to it.

"Sure, thanks." I sat. Hisao, still speechless, sits his ass down, too. The blonde's blue eyes never follow either of us. I find myself staring into them and notice they are slightly cloudy. _Blindness,_ I thought.

The atmosphere seemed rather calm and... British upper-class? No, regal is a better word. The atmosphere must have finally affected Hisao, since he relaxed.

"I take it you're new students to Yamaku?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said in English. Oops. "We just transferred yesterday," I said in Japanese.

She seemed to not notice my English slip up. Instead, she bows to us in greeting. Amusingly, Hisao did the same, before stopping, embarrassed. He saw my grin and his face turned red.

"I'm Lilly Satou. Pleased to meet you..." she introduced herself, cuing us to introduce ourselves. Her first name was definitely not Japanese, so she herself must have mixed parentage, likely from the English Isles. Upon hearing my name, she seems to note that I'm a foreigner, before waving to her tea roughly.

"Would either of you care for a drink?" she asked.

Hisao accepts, but I politely decline. She abruptly gets up and prepares Hisao a cup of tea. At least, it would have been abrupt if she wasn't so formal. As she prepared Hisao's tea, I wondered what it would be like to be blind. It must suck, not having all five senses. I wasn't really paying attention to Lilly, though. I just thought about how peaceful this room was. It was so comforting.

"So," Lilly said, breaking the silence. "Which room were you two looking for? It's not often this classroom is visited after school."

"The library," I said.

"Yeah, Shizune and Mi- uh, I mean some classmates, they told us it was on this floor," Hisao added.

Lilly finished adding water and stirred. "I'm aware of Miss Hakamichi, as are most students. To be with them means you two are in class 3-3, no?"

"That's right. In the science room with Mutou," Hisao replied. For some reason, this makes Lilly giggle a little before she set the spoon down. She walked towards the table, cup and saucer in hand.

"He's quite a character. I imagine you'll come to like him. Most do," Lilly said. Mutou didn't seem like a character, but he wasn't someone that you could just dislike. She set the tea down for Hisao and took a seat. Hisao sipped at the tea.

"Thanks, Satou. It tastes really nice," Hisao said.

Lilly waved a hand in front of her face. "Lilly, please. There's no need to be too formal."

Ironic. For someone so formal, she would rather forgo name-related formalities.

"So which class are you from?" Hisao asked. He seemed curious about her. "I imagine it's one of the third-year classes."

"Correct," Lilly replied. She said 'correct,' not 'yeah' or anything casual. "I'm in class 3-2, which is on the third floor, same as yours. It's taught by Miyagi, and is specifically for both blind and partially blind students." _Wonder if Miyagi makes them wax on, wax off,_ I stupidly thought.

"I see," Hisao said. Then his face flushed red again. "Ah, I mean, uh, s-sorry..." he stammered. I saw no fault in his statement, no pun intended.

Lilly, however, didn't care. "My my, there's no need to change your speech on my account." She seemed really laid-back.

"Ah, sure. Sorry," Hisao apologized. "I guess I'm really showing my newness here."

"I think I am more so," I told Hisao. He nodded, because I was the American.

"An environment like this would be a big change, so I can't fault either of you for messing up. While the same can't be said for everyone, many have come to terms with their conditions," Lilly said. Hisao seemed eager to change the topic.

"Do you come here to drink tea often? It's a really nice place."

"I come here fairly often during lunch times. My duties as class representative don't leave enough time for an 'official' club, so a friend and I use this room for having tea."

Hisao looked at me. I figured he still wanted to know about clubs, so I nodded. Lilly seemed like the polar opposite of Shizune, so asking her would be a good idea.

"What kinds of clubs are there to join?" Hisao asked.

"Hmm..." Lilly thought about it. "The more popular ones are the track and field club, which uses the field near the school during lunchtimes... there's the baseball club... and then there's the book club in a room near the library. There are numerous smaller ones, too. Like the art and music clubs."

For someone who was so keen on joining a club, Hisao hesitated.

"Is it required to join a club?" he asked.

"It isn't, though it is encouraged," Lilly replied.

"Ah, good," Hisao sighed. "That's a relief."

_You have to join a club in some schools here? Well, you learn something new everyday,_ I thought.

Hisao's relief caused Lilly to laugh a little. The two drank their tea in silence. I glance at the window and notice that the sky turned orange. I nudge Hisao and point it out.

"Huh, the time's gone quickly," he remarked aloud.

"Sorry?" Lilly asked. She must not have been paying attention.

"The sun's starting to set," I explained.

Lilly apologized. "I didn't mean to keep either of you from the library for so long."

"Ah, no, it's okay. The library's still open, isn't it?" Hisao quickly said. He had this habit of trying to make girls not feel bad.

Lilly ponders on Hisao's question. "True," she replied. "It's open until six-thirty during weekdays."

I glance at the clock and Hisao glances at his watch. We had enough time.

"Well, we might as well get going," Hisao said. "It's been nice talking with you, Lilly." I agreed with Hisao. She was actually quite easy to talk to.

Lilly smiled and nodded. She had her hands folded over each other, looking prim and proper. "It was my pleasure," she said. "Oh, come to think of it," she said after a pause. "Shall I show you two where the library is?"

Hisao started to politely refuse Lilly's offer, but I stopped him and politely accepted. It turns out that she was going to see the librarian anyway.

As we get up, I notice Lilly grabbing a cane. _Must be for finding her way around,_ I thoughtfully analyzed.

The three of us set off for the library, though it wasn't at mach speed. Hisao and I matched Lilly's footsteps, which were rather slow compared to ours. We reached the library in no time, despite Lilly's slow pace. The library was oddly situated in the middle of the second floor. Literally.

Hisao was at the door first, so he was a gentleman for Lilly. "Ladies first," he said to Lilly.

She smiled at him and walked in and I followed. Hisao brought up the rear and closed the door. Rather than meet the librarian, I decided to set off on browsing. Hisao stayed with Lilly to meet the librarian. My method was to look at books with English on their spines.

"Yuuko, are you here?" I hear Lilly ask. No response.

Though I'm not paying attention, I hear a loud thud and a subsequent wail of either discomfort of pain. This causes me to look at the counter. The librarian, a young red-headed woman, pops up from behind the counter.

"Hi, Lilly. How can I help you?" the librarian, supposedly Yuuko, asked. Her voice was beyond shaky and she seemed nervous about everything.

They started conversing and I continued searching for English-written books. Yuuko mentioned that the reason she hit her head was because she dropped and eraser and pencil underneath the counter and was trying to retrieve them when we came in. That much I did pick up. She also seemed extremely quick to denounce any indication that she was troubled by anyone's actions. She seemed only a few years older than us. I pushed such thoughts aside.

I was on a mission. To find an elusive book that I could read. Sure, I had the internet and an Xbox, but I also liked reading literature. Merely lurking on a thread on an image board wasn't going to cut it for the next year, nor was all-night Grand Theft Auto sessions.

I kept searching, the conversation between Lilly, Yuuko, and Hisao not being a priority. I know that Yuuko and Hisao were introduced by Lilly, though. Lilly also pointed me out to Yuuko and I heard that Lilly had books imported in Braille. Okay, I wasn't trying to pay attention, but I ended up hearing what they said.

Still looking/eavesdropping, I found out that Yamaku had an extensive Braille and Audiobook collection. Extensive compared to libraries back home. They kept talking, I kept looking. Eventually, I found some books written in English. A couple Stephen King novels, most notably. I reached the end of the aisles and noticed a nice little group of desks. Beanbags were also scattered in this part, most empty. Except for one.

The girl with dark hair who Solid Snaked out of class was sitting in one of the beanbags. She seemed to be really into whatever book it was she was reading. Honestly, my feet had a mind of their own, pulling me in towards the girl before I can even think something out to say. _Well, you're fucked,_ I thought.

Half-way there, I was frantically thinking of what to say, the first thing to mind being an introduction. There was an empty beanbag next to her. My ass smacked into it before I could refuse. Bad move, because the girl was startled.

She looked at me, her bangs covering the right half of her face. I saw under her hair. Most of the right half of her face was scarred. Despite this, she was still pretty cute. Luckily for me, I only saw the scars out of my peripheral vision, so it didn't seem like I was looking at her scars.

Startling her made me feel bad, so I decided to apologize.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I said.

"It... it's okay," she replied. Her voice was shaky, but it was cute. Goddamn this girl was cute. Cuteness aside, I didn't feel like she actually was okay.

"You don't care if I sit here, right?"

At first, she wasn't moving, so I thought I petrified her. _Good going, Adolf._ She finally nodded, however slightly.

"O... okay."

Sitting next to her, she takes cover behind the book. It's Japanese, obviously. The name is "Life of Pi." Pi is a strange name, but that was irrelevant. What was relevant was that I've never heard of it. Like most Japanese literature.

"So," I started. "Again, I'm sorry for scaring you. I'm Adolf."

The girl slowly looks up from the book about Pi's life, stalling for time. "I... know," she said. I felt stupid for re-introducing myself. She was in my class. "We... are in the same... same class." Now she was making me feel like a dumbass. "H-H-Hanako. I'm... Hanako." I only then noticed how quiet she spoke. I was surprised I could hear her.

She had a pretty name. American names could range from foreign to normal (John, Carl, Alex) to downright strange (Shaniqwa, Courtney, Bonquiesha). Japanese names often were pretty compared to American names. I didn't say that due to the awkwardness that would bring. I was the subject of that awkwardness too much back home.

Unable to think of a way to continue the conversation, I leaned forward. "Don't mind me. I'm just going to check these books out," I said, slightly nerdily.

Hanako let out quite the sigh of relief, as if she was holding in her breath the moment she saw me. Apparently talking wasn't one of her hobbies.

I sat, reviewing the books I got. Curiosity and teenage thought processes getting the better of me, I kept shooting glances at her. She was surprisingly attractive. Only after several glances do I notice that she was shooting glances at me. Pi's life story was her cover! Hanako's gaze, however, wasn't focused. It was like a frightened kitten's eyes. Glancing again, our eyes lock and I realize I dun goofed.

She sprung up and breathed deeply. "I... I..." she stuttered.

"I...?" I repeated, without thinking.

"I'vegottogodosomething!" Hanako frantically exclaimed, making a sudden dash towards the counter. She said it so fast, it was hard to understand at first. Her suddenness in her actions stops me dead in my tracks. "What just happened?" I wondered aloud in English.

I decide to follow her, passing Hisao on the way. He raises an eyebrow, and I tell him I'd tell him later. However, when I got to the counter, Hanako was nowhere in sight. She must've found a cardboard box. Lilly and Yuuko, however, are bullshitting away. I decide to interrupt.

"Hey, did a girl run past here?" I asked.

"Um, maybe," Yuuko said. She seemed apprehensive to be talking to me, since we never were formally introduced. "What did she look like?"

I described Hanako to the girls.

"You wouldn't be talking about Hanako, would you?" Lilly asked. _Well, shit, you're good._

"Actually, yes. I tried to talk to her and it was going okay, but then she hopped up, said she had to go do something really fast, and then she ran off," I explained.

"Oh dear. Yuuko, would you please excuse me, I had better try and find her." This confused me.

"S-sure. I'll just hold onto these until you come back," Yuuko said, trying to stay composed.

I voiced my confusion to Lilly. "I'm sorry," Lilly said. "But I'll have to explain it to you some other time."

"O... kay. I'll see you around," I said. I thought nothing of mentioning sight in my sentences. Lilly told us not to, so I didn't feel bad.

Lilly grabbed her can and rushed out of the library. I was left with Yuuko and Hisao.

I thought about voicing my concerns with Yuuko, but I decided against it. She seemed overly anxious, and after scaring off Hanako, I didn't want to think about what else could happen. Though I didn't plan on talking about it to Yuuko, Hisao came to the counter with some books as I was about to check out and asked me what happened.

"I don't know. I just tried to talk to her and it was going well, like I told Lilly. We ended up sitting in silence and our eyes met, so she sprung up. I don't know!" I gave up and turned to Yuuko. "Yuuko, what did I do wrong?"

She didn't know, obviously. "Well," she began, slightly trembling. "Hanako is a very timid girl. You need to be very careful around her. She can be very jumpy, I think, and she's not accustomed to talking with other people."

I accepted her advice, but Hisao thought it was strange. Yuuko said it was just how Hanako was, but she wasn't convincing.

Frustrated, I continued. "Acting so nonchalant just feels so weird! Like there's an elephant in the room and I'm supposed to ignore it." The disabilities didn't bother me, it was just how to act around the disabled that bothered me.

Yuuko fidgeted. "I think it's an elephant only if you feel that way."

Those were words of accidental wisdom. Hisao cracked a grin and Yuuko heavily blushed.

"W... what? Did that sound stupid?" Yuuko asked, genuinely concerned.

Hisao and I both told her it was actually very wise. It was more me than anyone. Silence engulfed the library. I had Yuuko check out my books. She noticed my books in English.

"Do you want to read in English or something?" she asked. Shakily, as before.

"No," I replied. "I'm American. I can't read Japanese that well."

Her mouth opens as if she wants to make something, but doesn't. She just checks my books out and then moves on to Hisao's, her hands shaking violently.

Afterward, Hisao and I started back to the dorms. On the grounds, he asked why I approached Hanako.

"I don't know. I just... did," I said. It was the truth.

He didn't say anything else as we walked to our rooms. We reached our respective rooms and I was sliding my key into the lock when a door behind us opened.

"Who is it?" Kenji's voice echoed.

Hisao and I both turn around to see our odd hallmate.

"It's just us," I said.

Kenji paused and licked his lips nervously. It was actually a little creepy. "Who is Us? I don't know anyone called Us. Are you another new guy?" He seemed concerned.

"Not exactly," I said.

"We've met before," Hisao said. "Yesterday, as a matter of fact."

Kenji was unconvinced. "I don't think so. I would remember some_one_ who I met yesterday, so I would definitely remember some _people_ I met yesterday." He pauses for a few seconds. "When was that? What day is today?"

Hisao and I look at each other. He mouthed 'Shinken ni?' _Seriously?_

"Prove that we've met before!" Kenji demanded.

"You live across the hall. You're Kenji," Hisao dully stated.

At this stunning revelation, Kenji leaped backwards, his face contorted into one of utter fear. "How do you know my name?" he demanded. "Damn, this can only mean one of two things. Either we have met and you are telling the truth, and I just can't remember it, or you are spies." Kenji paused, composing himself before finishing. "Psychic spies."

His eyes seem to wander into our rooms, though seeing something would be unlikely. I stand by my conclusion that he could PMS.

"Neither of us are psychic," I stated.

"How do I know that? I'm not a mind reader." Kenji paused, wagging a Finger of Damnation in my face. "Unlike you!" he finished, his face recontorted.

"Dude, stop. We met yesterday," Hisao said, fed up with Kenji's accusations. "What's wrong with you? We live in these rooms."

"Lies," Kenji persisted. "If you think you can pass as Hisao and Adolf because I'm legally blind, you are sorely mistaken. Neither of you look like either of them. I mean, the resemblance is real, real slim. Maybe at a distance, but who do you guys think you're kidding?"

Hisao sighed and rubbed his eyes in exasperation. I just wanted to shout at Kenji.

"Stay there," Kenji suddenly ordered. He came closer to both Hisao and I, though he did so carefully. We stood still, tired. "Oh, wait, I see it now. Damn, it really is you guys."

Hisao sighed in relief and I did, too. We both stepped back, Kenji's garlic breath getting to us. Kenji looked at me, specifically.

"What's up, dude? You don't look too good. I think. Something wrong?" he asked.

_Well, if you count being interrogated by your possibly insane hallmate as being a problem, then yeah. I'm troubled. _"I don't know. Weird stuff, bar this incident. People here are confusing. I just can't get into the swing of things." Why was I saying anything to Kenji? I glanced at Hisao. He came out of his room, his books properly placed.

"That's rough, dude. Yeah, I'm sorry about calling you guys psychic spies and all, but you can never be too careful. It's the hard reality we live in." _What?_ I was getting the feeling that Kenji was detached from reality.

Kenji continued talking. "You see? This is how it is, this world. There is no justice. You see? Even when I lose, I win, because I don't lose the lesson."

Hisao and I just stared at him. "What?" Hisao asked, dumbfounded.

"Never mind," Kenji said, turning back to me. "So what happened? Why the long face? Do you have a long face?"

I sighed. "It's nothing. I just scared off a girl on accident. Scared as in she actually ran away."

Kenji scowled. "A girl? A cute one?"

"Yeah, she was cute," I said.

"I knew it!" Kenji loudly said. "There are a lot of cute girls here. A strangely disproportionate amount... I believe this is one of the dark secrets of this school. I tried to warn you man, but did you listen..." he trailed off. _What warning?_ I thought.

Hisao became interested, it seemed. "Dark secrets?" he asked.

"Yes," Kenji replied. "Dark secrets. Extremely dark. Like a black hole. Have you noticed that the number of girls in this school is slightly but significantly higher than the number of boys? It's like sixty-forty." He turned his head and attempted to stare into the distance. "Why is it like this? I mean, to the untrained eye, it doesn't appear to be that bad, but that is a full twenty percent. One would think that a school with such a huge pool of women would be a man's dream. But no!"

Kenji took another breather. "What I am about to tell you guys could _**blow your mind.**_ Are you ready?"

Hisao said that he wasn't ready and attempted to reenter his room. I actually found Kenji's rambling kind of amusing. Hisao's retreat was cut off by Kenji's lack of fucks to give.

"I believe that this school is a battleground," Kenji said. "The site of a feminist infiltration. This disparity in the number of men to women is a clear sign of how far they have come. In case this cold war turns hot, they will have superiority in numbers. Just another skirmish in the eternal war against the forces of the feminists. They're everywhere. In Japan, women outnumber men. It's not a sixty-forty split, but it's only a matter of time, man. Even in America, women are the majority by a hair, and you should know this Adolf. They're building up their numbers. In the past, the buildup of a military has always been the clearest sign of imminent war. Japan is just the first step. Our economy is badass, and the country itself is small and isolated, yet a huge part of the Pacific in terms of political value. The perfect target. They are so cunning... as expected of women. Soon the day will come when..." his voice trailed off, leaving me wonder what would happen should that day come.

"That is why you can't trust them," he continued. "They will string you along, and then kill you, just as they killed me. You will end up just like me."

"Oh, hell no..." Hisao mumbled aloud.

Kenji was taken aback by Hisao's rude interruption. "Hey! What the hell does that mean?!"

"You said it, not me," Hisao replied.

"So? You're not supposed to say something like that! Damn, so rude." Kenji had to regain his train of thought. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, vast feminist conspiracy. So, yeah, you will e-"

"Stop it. Stop!" Hisao interrupted again. "We lost you way, way back there somewhere. Somewhere around 'feminist infiltration.'" He seemed to be trying to get me out, too.

This didn't deter Kenji. "Too hard to follow? It's cool, I have some graphs and stuff in my room. And puppets. You guys like puppets?"

Hisao seemed to be getting really fed up with Kenji. "No puppets."

"You don't like puppets, okay. Graphs are still cool though, right?" He was rather energetic in his movements following this. He must have liked to spread knowledge of the feminist conspiracy.

Hisao was clearly displeased. "Something on your mind, dude?" Kenji asked.

"Just thinking about being the last two sane men in an insane world."

This upset Kenji deeply. "You mean that's you two? That can't be, because I'm the last sane _man_ in an insane world. That is my dream, you can't just steal a man's dream." He paused. "What the hell, there can't be two last sane men anyway. It would invalidate that whole 'last' part... and that part is kind of important. There can only be one, like in that foreign movie where there could only be one, and in the end there is only one dude left, because that was the point."

"Highlander?" I asked, out of the blue.

"Yeah, that, I guess," was Kenji's response.

Kenji seemed pretty serious about what Hisao said. Seriously, it was stupid. But funny.

"Anyway," Kenji said. "If you guys wait here, I can get my graphs. I also have a list of the other dark and complex conspiracies that this school holds, as tangled as..." He paused and looked at Hisao. "Quick, finish my analogy for me. Be a pal."

"I'm going to bed now. It's extremely late," was Hisao's analogy. I had to agree with Hisao. I was feeling fatigued.

"That doesn't like an analogy. But whatever," Kenji said. "I like you guys. You seem like cool dudes. Most people don't understand what I'm talking about when I try to explain the vast feminist conspiracy to them. Denial is a terrible thing." He paused. "Later," he said, vanishing into his room.

Hisao looked at me. "What the...?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. It was kind of funny, though."

Hisao sighed and went into his room sluggishly. After the door closed, I heard shoes hit the floor and bedsprings strain. _Flopped,_ I concluded.

I walked to my room, placed my books down, and slid out of the uniform, falling on my bed in my boxers. I had a bit of homework, but I didn't want to do it. I never felt like doing homework. Getting on Xbox would be implausible. Most of my friends in the States would already be asleep, plus I wasn't even sure that I could connect to Xbox LIVE in Japan.

I sat up and just stared at the wall, before grunting and getting up.

"Chert," I cursed. "Ich könnte genauso gut beginnen mein Hausaufgaben." _Damnit, I might as well start my homework._

New places call for new habits, it seemed. While I did my homework and browsed the Internet afterward, I couldn't help but think about Hanako and her abrupt mad dash out of the library.

This year would most definitely be interesting.

**AN: Any typos, I apologize. I had the chapters typed up and proofread, but my other computer (that had the files) Blue Screened, so I'm left with the copies I sent to my friends for proofreading. I tried to proofread as best as possible. The same problem occurs with chapter four.**


	4. Limbs

Chapter Four: Limbs

The next morning, I woke up a little later than usual. Quarter 'til eight seemed a little late. I hopped out of bed and went down the hall to shower and brush my teeth. I brushed first. In the shower, I unconsciously ran my fingers over the numerous scars from the accident. I didn't remember much of what happened to me during the accident, even from what I was told at the hospital.

I didn't dwell on it. Getting out of the shower, I dried off and headed back to my room. I still had half an hour to get to homeroom. Getting dressed, I took my mandatory medication. Not the optional pills, like Vyvanse and Prevacid. I choked the pills down with some water. I had none left for washing down the aftertaste.

A disgusting, chalky taste in my mouth, I slipped into fresh clothes and walked out of the dorms, books in tow. I headed to the cafeteria for some breakfast. Once in the cafeteria, I grabbed some more eggs and bacon. Mmm... Bacon...

Bacon aside, I wolfed the meal down and headed to homeroom. I took my seat next to Hisao. Mutou was late. People trickled in ten or so minutes after homeroom started. It seemed like that would be the norm.

On the board were several tasks for the class to do. Luckily for me, I already knew quite a bit of whatever it was we were learning. The pile of busywork was also a relief to Hisao and I. Shizune and Misha couldn't harass us about joining the Student Council. Hisao told me he wouldn't be able to give an answer if they did start, so he was pleased with the amount of work we had to do.

Hanako entered the class ten minutes late, but no one noticed yet again. The teacher doesn't notice her, but he does notice that it's time to break into groups.

"Shit," I muttered in English as I turned to Shizune and Misha. Hisao seemed to be much more dismayed than I about having to break off into groups. Shizune was giving us an ominous smile. One that could be considered adorable, but at the same time, fear-inducing. There was certainly no escape from these two.

"It looks like we're together again! Yay yay!" Misha happily exclaimed. The two got awfully close for comfort, pushing their desks towards ours. We were trapped.

Shizune must have noticed our discomfort, as she signed to Misha. "What's wrong?"

We were both trying to think of a bluff, but Shizune signed again, our fears realized.

"Oh... Have either of you been thinking about what you said yesterday? You both said you would think about joining the Student Council, didn't you?" Misha asked.

Fear must have washed over our faces. "It's okay," Misha said. "We were talking about it after you left, and it would be rude to expect either of you to already have an answer for us this early, right? Right?" She laughed.

I sighed. Japanese girls like Misha and Shizune would do wonders for the CIA. Torturing people and all. That thought actually scared me a bit.

Tired of wasting time, Shizune got her game face on, smacking the assignment in a way that made it super important. However, all we had to do was read a bunch and then do two problems. Shizune seemed to take things a little too seriously, given how she made a big deal over how little we had to do. The amount of work is unimportant to her. The mere fact that there's work in general is what is.

I guess I should've taken my Vyvanse that morning. While reading, my eyes started to wander, kind of like when I was in the library with Hanako. In fact, just like in the library, my eyes catch Hanako again. No one's working with her, but she's still doing her work. It makes me feel bad, seeing her working alone, but with her level of timidness... it makes sense to work alone. I thought that maybe she did work with others occasionally, so I got Misha's attention.

"Does Hanako always work alone?" I asked.

"I think so, Adolf-chan. Why? Do you feel sorry for her because she's alone?" Misha asked.

I struggled to answer, essentially leaving Misha with confirmation that I felt bad. "Do you think she could work with us?" I asked, failing to remember that we were the one group of four.

"Hmm... No. I don't think that would be wise."

"Why not?"

"Shicchan and her wouldn't get along."

"Oh my god," I murmured in English. _Does she get along with anyone?_ "Why is that?" I asked in Japanese.

Misha seemed reluctant to answer. She let out a nervous laugh, something likely very foreign to her. "Just because," she finally said.

She didn't know how to explain. Great. She piques my interest and then can't quench it. Shizune noticed our conversation thanks to Misha's constant signing, subsequently signing something to Misha.

"What, Shicchan?" Misha asked. I wondered if she did that for the same reason she signed everything to Shizune. "The friend of my enemy is my enemy? That sounds so harsh, I'm not going to say that."

"You said it anyway," Hisao remarked, not looking up from his reading.

Misha turned towards Hisao, a smile on her face. "I know, Hicchan, it's fine if you overhear!" Yep. She talked to Shizune aloud for the same reason she signed everything to her. To keep things fair.

Shizune still seemed a little mad at me and signed to Misha. "Anyway," Misha said. "We should start on the problems now."

The reading was easy, and the problems even easier. Oddly, it still took some time, but we finished with a good bit of time before lunch. Hisao decided to ask what other places there were to eat at, besides the cafeteria and Shizune and Misha began having a Jerry Springer session about their favorite restaurants and such. Hisao told me that all of the places they were talking about were in the city.

The two were so heated in their argument, they didn't notice the start of lunch itself. I glanced over my shoulder, rocking back and forth on my heels, and saw Hanako. She was still sitting there, not caring that it was lunch or anything. She was studying her notes from the previous class, seemingly oblivious to the people leaving around her. No one seemed to pay her any mind. It made her seem like a figment of my imagination. A hallucination of sorts, like a tulpa. It also made me wonder why she was so timid, scars aside. Maybe she just didn't like people.

Hanako didn't notice me looking at her. She peered over her shoulder, at the back door. _Obviously waiting for someone,_ I thought. _Maybe I should apologize for yesterday?_

I was tired of waiting for Shizune and Misha, anyway. I had metaphorical balls of steel, so I sucked it up and walked back to Hanako, leaving Hisao with the two bickering girls.

"Uh," I hesitated. "Hi, Hanako."

Hanako suddenly shot up and became rigid. "A... Adolf?" she said, startled.

Surprised she remembered my name (though I wished I didn't say my first name to the class), I apologized. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I didn't mean to startle you, I just wanted to get to know some classmates, since I'm a foreigner."

It seemed as though Hanako accepted my apology, since she looked up at me, slightly blushing. "T... that's okay," she forced out. "It... it was my fault."

"It wasn't anyone's fault," I said. If anything, I was to blame. "So... who're you waiting for? I saw you looking at the door."

Maybe I should have worded that better. "L-Lilly," she replied, surprising me. I thought she would never have answered.

"Satou?" I asked. I sort remembered names easily, something that I wasn't proud of. Made me seem like a stalker.

Hanako nodded in response. I figured they were friends after that, given that Lilly went to find Hanako after I scared her off.

"Lilly seems nice. Very well-mannered. Are you two friends?" I asked. That was a stupid question.

Despite the stupidity of my question, Hanako smiled a bit. "Y-yes." She glanced over her shoulder again.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" I asked. She seemed to be getting a little skittish.

"N-no," she quickly denied. "That's not it. It's just easier if Lilly doesn't come here..." she trailed off.

"Why?" I asked, curious. Her eyes moved towards Shizune, still arguing with Misha.

"Are Lilly and Shizune not friendly or something?" I asked. Hanako shook her head, not wanting to talk about it. Lilly was rather laid-back, whereas Shizune was rather uptight, so that made some sense. Contrasting personalities and all that fun stuff.

I noticed Lilly at the door, so I glanced at Hanako. Her eyes were fixated on Shizune.

"Uh, Hanako," I said, getting her attention. "Lilly's here."

In a burst of excitement, Hanako did a one-eighty in her seat. Seeing Lilly, she swiftly opened the door for the blind blonde. Hanako seemed happy that her friend arrived.

"Lilly..." she greeted, a slight smile on her lips.

"Ah, Hanako," Lilly said. "Good morning. Is the president here?"

"Y-yes," Hanako replied, seemingly at ease. For some reason, Hanako glanced at Shizune again. Maybe it was to see if Shizune noticed Lilly.

Lilly sighed, closing her eyes. "I guess we'd best be off, then." Her normal tone of voice was tainted by what seemed to be frustration or disgust. The two must have had a bitter rivalry. It wasn't any of my concern, however.

"Hi Lilly. How are you?" I asked, greeting the tall blonde. "Sorry about yesterday."

Lilly's unseeing eyes shot open. "Oh my, is that Adolf? I didn't notice you there." Slight embarrassment tinged her voice. It was kind of funny.

Hanako scowled. "S-sorry Lilly," she apologized. "I thought you noticed..."

Lilly dismissed Hanako's apology. "No, it's all right, Hanako." She then addressed me. "Adolf, I hope you aren't still concerned about yesterday. It was a misunderstanding, that's all."

I actually had no concerns about Lilly's leaving after I found out she and Hanako were friends. "It's fine," I replied. "I just need some time to adjust, I guess."

"Well then, I think you'll find most people here are much more forgiving than elsewhere. Please, don't hesitate to ask questions."

"Will do. Thanks for the advice."

"Um... Lilly..." Hanako said. Lilly nodded.

"I apologize, Adolf, but we must be off."

Hanako was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and Lilly was a little embarrassed. I don't know why. Maybe they secretly didn't accept my apologies. Glancing at Shizune and Misha, it seemed like they finally reached a compromise. It was only a matter of time before they grabbed me. Hisao had no idea what to do, so he started to read a book.

"Mind if I go with you?" I asked. I really didn't want to spend lunch with the Deaf-Drill Duo, no matter how nice they could be to me.

Lilly silently contemplates such a thought. "Hmm... I'm sure that we could accommodate you, can't we, Hanako?"

Hanako's eyes shoot back and forth between me and Lilly before the freezes. "S... sure," she said, wide-eyed and slightly apprehensive.

Lilly smiled, closing her eyes again. "Well then, shall we be off?"

If Lilly could have seen Hanako's fear-filled face, I doubt I would my request would have been accepted. It made me feel bad, but I couldn't just say "Never mind." It just raises eyebrows.

Hanako, Lilly, and I exited the room. Hisao left at the same time, too. He must've given up waiting for the arguers. I noticed that Hanako was very clingy to Lilly, basically embracing her the whole time. Hisao was to my left, matching my pace so he wasn't alone, either. Hanako didn't notice him. The four of us just rounded the corner to the stairs when I got hit in the chest so hard, I flew in the air, landing on my ass. My sight was temporarily black, but I heard Hanako give out a frightened yelp. I heard another thump and a groan of pain.

"Ah! Goddamn!" I swore in English, vision slowly returning. My chest was hurting a little bit.

"Ow..." I heard another groan. It was a male's voice. _Is that Hisao?_ I thought. I then heard another groan of pain, it was distinctly feminine.

Sitting up and opening my eyes, I saw Hisao doing the same. I looked around and saw a girl sitting on the ground. She was kind of cute. She was short and wearing gym clothes. She also had bright green eyes and light brown pigtails. Most notably, however, was her lack of legs. She had prosthetic legs, ones typically used by legless runners.

I got up and helped Hisao to his feet. The girl cringed and hopped up to her feet. Hanako and Lilly were still watching. Well, Hanako was. Lilly was just there.

"Aw man..." the would-be assailant complained. "Hey, are you guys all right? I'm sorry about that." We scowled. "Really! I wasn't looking where I was going, and you two just came out of nowhere. Sorry... Sorry!" She gave us puppy-dog eyes. I hate it when cute girls give me puppy-dog eyes. Hisao seemed to have a similar problem. We both became more relaxed and forgiving.

"It's okay," Hisao said. "Don't worry about it... ouch..." He grabbed his chest in pain. He apparently was hit in the chest much harder than I was. He started to rub his chest, holding his breath. Before long, he straightened himself.

Just noticing this, the failed assassin asked if she should get a nurse. Hisao stared at her, completely stupefied.

"Err... no need, I'm fine," he said, after he got his bearings.

"You sure you're okay?" the girl asked. "I hit you pretty hard." She nodded towards me. "I sent him flying in the air."

I glanced at Hanako and she hid her face behind Lilly. She was worried, but I caught a glimpse of a smile and a blush. I looked at Hisao, and he wanted to laugh at me being sent in the air by this small girl.

"It's okay," Hisao replied to the small girl, stifling a laugh. "I said I was fine, and nothing's broken. No harm done."

The pigtailed girl smiled. "That's good! I was-"

"What happened?" Lilly abruptly asked, interrupting the short girl. Her face was full of worry. I was surprised Hanako didn't tell her.

"Someone just... bumped into us, nothing serious," Hisao said. "Just winded."

Lilly opened her mouth to acknowledge Hisao's presence. She didn't know he was there, and Hanako only just noticed. However, the girl-train quickly spoke up, her face contorted to be full of worry.

"Er, sorry, it's my fault. I was just going to get some stuff, and I was in a kind of a hurry," she said rather fast.

Lilly seemed to recognize the voice, her face lightening up. "That 'someone' here is Emi, isn't it?"

The small girl just shuffled around, quietly coughing, before she said anything. "Hi, Lilly, Hanako," she said, her face no longer full of worry. Hanako wasn't scared, surprisingly, and mumbled a greeting back.

"Emi, do please try to be more careful," Lilly scolded. "You might be sturdy enough to endure these sorts of accidents, but there are people who aren't."

Emi blushed, starting to fidget. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hisao smile. He must've found it really adorable.

"I know that!" Emi exclaimed. "I- I, um, I was just..." She started to stumble on words before she suddenly yelped, scaring Hanako a little and making me jump. "I gotta go! Teacher will have my head, I promised to help with printouts but I went running instead! Sorry, but I've gotta change and everything!" She suddenly bolted down the hall. The whole ordeal reminded me of when Hanako did the same thing in the library. Granted, I never knew what she had to go do, but it made me grin.

Hisao was still smiling. "Does that kind of thing happen often around here?" he asked Lilly.

"Oh, Hisao. Hello," Lilly said, finally greeting him. "There are more rules in Yamaku for running in corridors than other schools, but that rarely stops Emi, it seems." _Yeah, it took running into two guys to stop her,_ I thought.

"Yeah, it seems like much doesn't stop her. Not even two people," I remarked, referring to her bowling through me and Hisao. Hanako flashed a grin at my remark.

"Correct," Lilly said. "Shall we be off then?"

Lilly and Hanako started down the hallway, and I followed. Hisao went his own way, to the cafeteria. I forgot about the tea room, which is where we went. I half-expected us to go to the cafeteria, but then Hanako's timidness came to mind.

Entering the second-floor room, I was met with a rush of calmness and peace. It was so different, compared to eating lunch with Shizune and Misha. I preferred this already.

Hanako was setting out their lunchboxes and Lilly was making the tea. I wasn't big on tea.

"So," I said. "This is what you come here almost everyday for?" I was genuinely curious.

"Yes," Lilly replied. "Hanako and I usually have lunch here. It suits both of us, so we ended up using this room regularly."

I could see why Hanako would like this room. Quiet, not exactly frequented... It was nice. Being the gentleman I am, I took my seat after the girls. Lilly poured tea for all three of us. I guessed I should have told he that I'm not fond of tea. I decided that I shouldn't be so picky and sipped the tea. It was good.

Hanako sat next to me, and she seemed rather nervous. Just as Lilly and Shizune seemed to be polar opposites, Misha and Hanako were, too. If it were Misha next to me, I'd be harassed into joining the Student Council and constantly in conversation. Hanako, however, was just so quiet and shy, it was slightly unnerving.

"So, how are you faring in Yamaku, Adolf?" Lilly asked. "You seemed a bit flustered before."

"It's certainly a large change from American school. I keep getting lost occasionally, sometimes I'm not sure what to do or if something is acceptable. Then getting thrown in the air outside of class..." I trailed off. "Being an American in a foreign school, I guess it's going fine."

Lilly must not have known I was American. I guess my name implies that I'm German or something. Lilly went to say something, but Hanako accidentally cut her off.

"You.. you looked like you were in pain, too. Are you really... okay?" she asked, her voice slightly louder than usual.

I was surprised by Hanako caring, for some reason. It made me feel fuzzy inside. I contemplated mentioning my heart problems, but that would cause undue panic. I would tell them about by problems, but at a different time. I wasn't uncomfortable with others knowing my ailments, unlike Hisao. I just didn't want them to insist I see the nurse. I've quite literally been through worse, even before I was in the car accident.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My ribs and back are just sore, that's all." In truth, that's all I felt. Pain and soreness. My heart didn't start murmuring or anything. My ass was really sore, though.

The two girls weren't in doubt though. My voice wasn't strained or full of obvious deception. It was the truth. What I could tell, though, was that they knew there was something seriously wrong with me, health-wise. They never asked, though. Must've been like that thing in the military: don't ask, don't tell. Hanako must've been an avid believer in something along those lines. I had no inkling of an idea what her disability could be, other than social anxiety.

I decided to ask some basic questions to break the silence. "How long have you been here?"

"We both were here since the start of high school. I moved into the dormitories last year, though," Lilly answered. "Hanako has been in the dormitories since she came here, if I remember correctly."

"That's right," Hanako confirmed. "Since... high school."

"So... You've known each other since then?" I asked, meaning since Lilly entered the dorms.

"Since I moved, yes," Lilly replied. "Hanako lives next door to me, so it's only natural, right?"

"R-right," Hanako agreed.

"Makes sense," I said.

Maybe it's because I'm American, but living next to someone isn't reason enough to befriend them. Maybe it's because I've had pretty repulsive neighbors in the past. That's not a good enough reason for _me_, but Japanese customs were different than American customs in many ways, so maybe it was normal to befriend your neighbor.

The rest of the lunch passed uneventfully. I realized I had no food, but I wasn't really hungry. When the bell rang, the girls packed up their lunches with the same precise movements and finesse as when they set them out.

"I guess I'd better be off," Lilly said. "Are you going to go with Adolf, Hanako?"

Hanako looked at me, her eyes widening a bit. It seemed as though she wanted to skip for a split-second. Was I that repulsive? Maybe it was just the fact that I was a guy. When people saw a guy and girl walking together, oftentimes it was assumed that they were an item. Then people would make annoyingly immature remarks. So, so immature. I didn't mind walking with Hanako, but it wasn't about me.

"Y-yes," she finally said, shocking me. I didn't know if she was doing it to appease Lilly or if she actually trusted me, in the short time we've talked. Hanako seemed fragile. If I looked at her strangely, it could set her off. I didn't want to make her 'go do something' again. The mere thought of her fragility unsettled me.

"Well," I said. "We should get going then. I think class already started." I shoved my nervousness down my throat.

Lilly nodded in farewell, bending down to grab her can. Hanako and I followed her out of the room. We quickly walked to our classes. When we reached 3-2, Lilly thanked me for sharing lunch with her and Hanako.

"No, thank _you_ for letting me. It was a pleasure," I said. I felt like a gentleman.

Lilly disappeared into her classroom, leaving Hanako and I to return to 3-3. Hanako still seemed very uneasy about returning to class.

"Hanako," I said. She turned to me. "Do you want to go back now?"

"Y-yes," she replied. I was surprised.

"Well, let's get going, then," I said. I wanted to say more, but I couldn't think of anything that I could deem safe and proper to say. I opened the back door to the class, entering first. Normally, I'd let the lady go first, but Hanako wasn't your typical lady. There was more to her, and doing that would possibly cause her to breakdown. Mainly because people would look at her oddly.

Mutou saw me, and he opened his mouth to say something. However, he then noticed Hanako closing the door behind us and merely nodded, continuing his speech. That struck me as odd. Hanako was with me, so I got a free pass. If she was not, I was a tardy bastard? Something was fishy, but I didn't snoop.

Hanako and I walked back to our seats. Taking my seat next to Hisao, I noticed that neither Misha or Shizune were present. That also struck me as odd, but I pushed off the want to investigate. I stealthily opened my bag and retrieved my books, catching up on Mutou's lesson.

Class passed rather lazily and quietly. The final bell sounded and I was left with nothing to do for the rest of the day. It seemed that Hisao had the same problem, because both of us stayed back. Mutou was grading assignment sheets, but he noticed us and furrowed his brow.

"Riese, Nakai, what is it?" he asked.

Hisao and I jumped, both of us saying that we had nothing on our minds and we both were wondering what we'd do after school.

Mutou slowly recapped his pen, stacked his papers, and tapped them off the desk twice.

"Neither of you have plans?" he asked.

"No," Hisao said. He then explained his predicament with clubs.

"Go observe a meeting of someone else's club," he advised us. "Might pique your interest." He told me this, even though I had not mentioned wanting to join a club. Maybe he assumed Hisao was speaking for the both of us.

"I guess... I just..." Hisao tried to say something, but the words just didn't form. Mutou gave Hisao an interested look, and I could tell Hisao wished he never opened his mouth.

"I just don't know how to deal with people," Hisao said. "I mean, the other students. I don't think Adolf does either." He used my first name and not my middle name as instructed. I was disappointed, but I nodded. "We're talking to people and everything, so it's not like we're isolated or anything. I just don't know what to think about... the disabilities. It's like... it feels that I'm being impolite if I pay attention to them, and it's weird to ignore them."

I nodded. "I feel the same way," I said, agreeing with Hisao. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," I added, in English.

Mutou seemed either unimpressed or tired of hearing such complaints, as if he heard them for years. "These things are only an issue if you make them one," he said, scratching his chin. "You can talk normally with someone, even if they are blind or something. Try to look behind the -. There's not a single student here who isn't just a normal kid behind whatever they might seem at first glance." He sounded a lot like Yuuko.

I sort of understood what Hisao meant. The disabilities are there and no matter what, you can't ignore them.

"But-" Hisao started. He was interrupted by the door slamming open.

"Teacher!" a familiar, bubbly voice rang out. Misha bubbled on into the classroom, her hand extended in greeting and face covered in a wide smile. She was loud, as usual. She bounced to Mutou's desk, swinging her hands back and forth.

Mutou wasn't pleased by being interrupted, and Misha's presence clearly saddened him. He slumped. "Mikado," was all he said.

His tone must have had an adverse effect on Misha, because she came to a dead stop and looked around cluelessly. She seemed to sense a disturbance in the Force, but couldn't identify it.

"Yes?" Misha asked, her smile disappearing as she became confused.

"We have talked about volume control before."

"Yes!" Misha didn't even lower her voice, her face brightening up. It seemed to get louder, actually.

Mutou sighed and rubbed his eyes. "So, what is it?"

Misha's face became sad. "I... we need help! We're running out of supplies for the festival stands! This is a distress!" She waved a pink slip of paper she had for emphasis.

Mutou scowled. "So... go get more supplies from the art room. What's the problem with that?"

"Plywood!" Misha replied. "Plywood is always the problem! Last time we wanted more, there was only a little, but that time we just took it all and went with that. Now there's like none left there, so do you know where there is some?"

"I don't understand. How would I know?"

"Shicchan... I mean, the president, thought that a teacher would know if there is plywood. Was she wrong?"

Mutou looked pretty annoyed. He was frowning with all his might, but Misha was oblivious. The communication was a pretty horrible thing to watch. Like torture.

"I'm afraid I have no idea if there is any plywood in the school, let alone where it would be if there was any," Mutou said, annoyed.

Misha groaned. "What should I do?"

"Perhaps try to find Mister Nomiya? I'm quite sure he would know where to find everything you need. Granted, you'd have to pry them from his cold, dead hands, but that's a different matter entirely."

Misha groaned again. "I don't have time! We are so busy!" She punctuated this with an attempt to look like she was in despair. She couldn't pull it off, and she inadvertently crumpled her note with her drills. "I shouldn't even be fetching these things, there is so much to do and we are falling behind the schedule!" She said this without taking any breaths.

Mutou gave her a serious look before he smiled. I glanced at Hisao, and he frowned. _I got a bad feeling about this._

"I wonder if you could get some temporary help?" Mutou asked Misha. I looked at Hisao again, and he scowled hard. Mutou then looked at us expectantly, urging us to go help the annoying pink-haired girl.

Hisao and I both let out long sighs. "We guess we can help," I said to Misha.

"You can? Thanks, guys, you're so nice!" She paused, double took, and pointed at us. "Ah!" she yelped, looking confused. "Come to think of it, what are you two doing here? Class is over, you should be having fun!"

"We just had a little group chat," Mutou said, trying to help us.

"Oh no!" Misha exclaimed. "It's not detention is it? Are you in trouble?"

"No," Hisao dully replied.

"Are they in trouble, teacher?"

"No, they're not," Mutou replied, seeming to wonder why she would ask again. He sighed deeply, clearly wanting the bubbly girl gone.

"What do you need?" Hisao asked Misha.

Misha presented him the note she drilled. "Here's a list. I can try to find the plywood from somewhere if there's none in the art room." He took the note hesitantly.

"We said we'd help, but this doesn't imply in any way, shape, or form that we're joining the council," I told Misha sternly.

Misha groaned in disappointment. "Still, thanks guys. Try to be quick, we are on a stall-building streak now, we must hurry hurry hurry!" She clearly never heard of punctuation.

Misha strode out of the classroom, leaving Hisao, Mutou, and I looking at each other in silent agreement.

"Well, you two. There you have it: something to do now," Mutou said.

Hisao looked at the list Misha gave him. He heaved a sigh.

"What?" I asked. He handed me the list and when I looked at it, I sighed, too.

"We'll be going now," Hisao said to Mutou. We left the room in search of the art room. Taking another chance, we picked the door furthest down the hall. Pushing it open left us in the presence of a seemingly unused room. I looked around. Seeing easels eased my mind. No pun intended.

Hisao opened his mouth. "Anybody ho-" he started to say, but stopped. I looked around to see the cause of the stoppage.

Sitting on a desk next to a window was a girl with short auburn hair. She wore a boy's uniform and had no shoes on. In between her toes was a fork, food attached on its end. I then noticed she had no arms, the sleeves of her shirt wrapped at elbow length.

Not only was Hisao frozen in place, the armless girl was, too. How her leg didn't get tired was interesting. I glanced between the two and noticed that both had their mouths open. Neither moved, so the only movement came from me pacing back and forth, as well as the clock on the wall.

"Hello," the girl said, her foot still in front of her mouth. At least it was, until she shoved the fork into her mouth. She stared at Hisao while she chewed. Weird.

"Umm... hello," Hisao said to the girl. "We were told to pick up some supplies from here. For some festival stalls, or something. We didn't think anyone would be here."

"There isn't," the girl replied. "That's why I came here, too." She drove the fork down into the food, impaling more grub.

"Well, that means you're here, right?" I asked. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"You are pretty observant," she said. "I guess it does. But who are you two?"

Straight to the point. Admirable. We introduced ourselves, for what seemed to be the hundredth time. We mentioned how we transferred in that Monday.

"I'm Rin," she said. "Tezuka Rin. Rin Tezuka." She seemed strange. "I won't shake hands with either of you, but at least we know who we are now." She grinned. "That's very nice." She spoke very monotonously. Her joke regarding her arms was kind of dark. Hisao grimaced at the joke, though.

Rin lost interest in us and turned towards her food. Her feet must've wanted to get it on with the fork.

"Can I continue my lunch? If you don't mind me, I won't mind you," Rin said. She wanted her lunch. "If you need to get your stuff, the supplies are at the back."

"Go right ahead," Hisao said. "But... lunch? School's already over for the day."

Rin frowned. "What word would you use then? There is no word for a meal you eat after lunch but before dinner, right? It bothers me very much too, but I don't really know what I should say."

In English, one could say 'lunner' or 'dinch.' However, that was English, so I didn't bring it up.

"I don't think you are supposed to eat a meal between lunch and dinner to begin with," Hisao said. In America, you could eat whenever. Again, didn't mention it.

"But I'm hungry now and my delicious boxed lunch would go to waste otherwise." Rin smiled a little. "I have curry. It's very delicious."

Rin picked up her fork with her toes. She then pointed it at us.

"So, what brings you two to this place?"

"Like I said, we were told to look for these things," Hisao said.

"No, the school. From outside you look fine. Are your problems inside?"

Hisao was speechless, but I slightly nodded. Hisao tried to say something, but Rin cut him off.

"I can guess. I am good at guessing. Better than most people."

Hisao once again became a rock. I was getting annoyed. It seemed like he thought his arrhythmia was the worst damn thing ever, worse than having no arms or being overly socially anxious. Hisao just kept thinking, being a frozen piece of crap. Rin didn't seem to care. She turned towards me.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Same as him," I said. "You want to guess, so I'm not saying anything."

She just leaned back and stared at the ceiling, fork in mouth, completely unfazed. "I don't think it's anything in your heads. Something in your guts would be boringly ordinary, like this lunch of mine. Less delicious, though." Rin grinned. "The problem must be in your pants!"

I was completely taken by surprise. "Come again?" I said.

Hisao was taken aback as well. Literally, too, because he started to move backwards. His reaction caused Rin to grin even wider.

"So I was right!" she said happily. "There's something wrong with your tackles, huh?"

Though I was shocked at such a statement, I found it slightly amusing. Hisao, however, couldn't handle it.

"No!" he nearly shouted. "Nothing like that. We both have a heart problem. Arrhythmia." He revealed his top-secret intel because of a remark on his manhood. So, so immature.

Rin seemed displeased with the new information. "How boring," she yawned. "Trouble in the pants would have been much more _scandalous._"

"Sorry to let you down," Hisao replied, seemingly confused by Rin's reaction.

"I forgive you. Just, I collect people and a person with, you know, that kind of problem would've been really great."

_Collect people? What? That's kind of creepy,_ I thought. "What do you mean you collect people?" I asked.

"People with different problems," Rin said. That didn't answer my question, but Hisao seemed to understand.

"So you just... like, go around asking people what's wrong with them?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Rin replied, her face full of boredom. She promptly turned around and continued eating with her feet.

While I didn't care about knowledge of any of my health problems getting out, Hisao seemed deeply troubled. I could tell he was wracking his brain about telling Rin he had arrhythmia. I wanted to tell him it was no big deal, but I didn't think that would work.

We walked to the back of the art room for Misha's requested supplies. I tapped Hisao on the shoulder and he turned to me.

"Why are you so uptight about people knowing what's wrong with you?" I asked.

Hisao gave me a cold look, but then his gaze softened. "I don't know, man," he said. I decided to drop the subject there. The look in his eyes showed he wasn't lying.

At the back, I noticed Rin eating. She had great dexterity with her legs and feet. I was flexible, able to put my feet behind my head and such, but she moved her legs like arms, her feet like hands. I found the sight to be quite a spectacle, but Hisao was discomforted. I also realized why she wore a boy's uniform. Given how she uses her legs, wearing a skirt would result in unwanted peeks of certain areas.

Hisao and I were searching for Misha's wanted items, to some avail. Hisao stopped searching abruptly and turned towards Rin. _Goddamn it, Hisao,_ I thought.

"So, do you always eat alone and this late? Or do you get the occasional visitor?" he asked. I swore under my breath in English, still searching. Could he focus on the task at hand?

"Visitors..." Rin pondered. "Maybe you are my first occasional visitors. But I don't always eat alone either. Sometimes I eat with a certain person on the roof, if she's not horsing around."

"Horsing?"

Rin sighed. "She likes to do sports."

The room grew silent once more and I give Hisao the list to look over.

He looked the note over. "We have just about everything," he said to me. "Plywood is the only exception." He turned to Rin. "So, I think we have all the things now."

Rin's face was expressionless. "That's very nice for you. Don't feel obliged to stay. I was about to take a nap anyway." She paused. "You need to do whatever you are going to do with that stuff anyway, right? Or perhaps you like to watch girls sleeping?" She looked at us inquisitively.

I wanted to joke and say something along the lines of "Damn, you found me out," but I held my tongue. Hisao didn't hold his, but it wasn't funny.

"Even if one of us did, I think we have to be going. We'll see you around Tezuka," he said.

"Yeah, see you," I said.

"You can call me Rin," she said. "I feel that our relationship is at this point good enough to warrant this much." I was confused, simply because we had just met. Then again, just about everyone told us to refer to them by their first name.

Hisao was making a mad dash for the door when she said this. He turned around. "Fine, then I'm Hisao."

"I guess I'm Adolf," I said. I preferred the way it was back home. You were almost always referred to by your first name by your peers and didn't need to have conversations like this.

"Then you are," she said, even more emotionless than before. She stared at Hisao long and hard. "See you later, Hisao and Adolf," she finally said after a staring for a while. I swore she smirked.

Hisao and I left the art room, Hisao closing the door.

"What an intriguing person..." he whispered. I couldn't help but agree.

"I heard that!" Rin said, her voice singsong-like and muffled.

"What did she hear?" another voice said, accompanied by a body that appeared almost instantly. Misha made us jump. I felt my heart rate rise, but it wasn't dangerous. I barely paid attention to my heart rate.

Misha's apparent ability to sneak up behind us in an empty hallway raised questions in my mind. One of which was "Was Kenji right?" Given the normally bubbly and noticeable girl's stealth, it wasn't entirely implausible. It was implausible enough, though. Behind Misha was Shizune, who seemed confused about who heard what.

"No wait," Misha said. "More importantly, who is in there? There's no club meetings today." Curious, Misha tried looking past us, failing to take into account the door already denying visibility.

"What are you doing here?" Hisao asked, like it was a VIP privilege to be there or something.

"You two took _so_ long that we had to come check what's wrong. That's no good, guys," Misha said, wagging her finger at us. "I found plywood, but everything else is still missing because you are tardy."

Hisao seemed put on the spot, as if he was wondering why she didn't start questioning me. "Oh, sorry. We got the things here, we were just going to bring them."

Misha was unconvinced. "I think you were up to some mischief! Who was in there with you two, I wonder..."

Misha signed to Shizune, pointing to her own ear. Shizune then pushed past us and opened the door to the art room. I could already tell what Shizune's response to Rin would be, given Rin was going to sleep on the counters. Sure enough, Shizune froze in place, staring at Rin. She may have been seething, but I couldn't tell. She took some deep breaths and adjusted her glasses, slamming the door shut. She started to sign to Misha, enraged. She gave us both a stern, unforgiving look. _Not like we can control her,_ I thought.

I then thought about what they thought. Rin sleeping on a table. Hisao and I were tardy. We both exited the art room that Rin was asleep in. They probably thought something sexual happened.

"Hello," Rin's voice came from behind the door. A few moments later, I realized the door was slammed shut, but Hisao noticed it before I did. He opened the door for the armless lady. "Hello," she said again as she entered the hallway.

Shizune signed to Misha. "Miss Tezuka," Misha said, her face stern. "What do you think you were doing? You absolutely are not permitted to use school property for such... err, disgraceful? activity!"

Rin didn't seem to care. "It sure is suddenly very crowded in here. I didn't know I was this popular." Her tone of voice didn't help me come to a conclusion if she was pleased or not about her sudden rise to fame. Rin herself just put on a don't-give-a-fuck face and ignored everything the other two girls tried to say.

Shizune tapped Misha on the shoulder and pointed at Rin, making signs. "Popularity aside, please don't do that any more," Misha translated. Shizune signed again and Misha smiled. "Anyway, how is your project going? Will it be done for the festival?"

Rin's don't-give-a-fuck attitude doesn't falter, despite Shizune's intense glare. "I keep wondering about that myself, too," she said.

"And...?" Misha asked for Shizune.

"Will think about it harder," Rin said. She really didn't care, it seemed.

Misha signed what Rin said to Shizune, causing Shizune to frown with dissatisfaction and sign back. "Miss Tezuka, please try to take this seriously," Misha translated. "It'll be a disaster if the wall looks like someone threw up their lunch onto it."

Rin merely nodded. "Will think more seriously."

Her toneless answer made Misha giggle. Shizune, however, wasn't going to, instead shaking her head. The duo took the supplies Hisao and I scavenged and went on their merry way.

Rin was watching the duo leave, too. Deep in thought, she frowned. "How rude," she remarked. "It's true though, I must finish my project before the weekend. There will be dire consequences if I don't."

"Such as?" I asked.

"The end of the world as we know it," she replied. "Like weekends usually are, but more dire... Much more dire." She turned towards the door. "Maybe I'll postpone my nap. To unforeseen future." She ended the thought by walking back into the classroom.

Hisao and I exchanged looks of confusion over the consequences. We seemed to do a lot of look exchanges.

"Since neither of you have anything to do," Rin called. "Would you give me a hand?"

Hisao and I reentered the art room. I wondered if the lending of hands was a joke.

Rin gestured towards a paint can. "This paint can doesn't fit into my bag, but I need it." She kicked the paint can. Hisao was feeling gentlemanly, it seemed, since he picked up the can. It seemed like he was having a little trouble with it, so I motioned for it. He shook his head.

"Where do you need to take it?" he asked Rin.

"Away," she replied, taking off down the hallway. Hisao and I followed, the paint can in tow. Neither of us had a choice in the matter. Actually, I did, but I followed anyway. We followed Rin down the hall.

Rin was walking beside us with a rather uneven pace and Hisao would switch the paint can between his hands every ten to twenty steps. It was getting really annoying. I motioned for it again by the time we got to the lobby. He was about to hand it to me when the head nurse appeared.

"Ah, Mister Nakai! Mister Riese! What a happy coincidence! Tezuka too, of course," he said, nodding to Rin in greeting. The gesture wasn't returned, but he didn't seem to mind. Instead, he turned back to me and Hisao. "There is something I forgot to mention on Monday."

Hisao didn't seem happy, simply because he had to hold the can longer. I motioned for him to drop it. I didn't want to know what he forgot, but we were going to find out, regardless.

"It's about your medications. Since neither of you have been on your current medications that long, or new ones in your case, Mister Riese," he paused. "Anyway, there might be some unexpected side effects. Ones that might require you to adjust dosages or even change to another medication. As such, we will do a few tests regularly, but what I want the both of you to do is keep an eye on everything related to your conditions that feels off, if you get what I mean. Nausea, headache, anything, come see me if something happens."

Hisao and I both told him we would do so.

"So, how are the two of you? Everything fine?" the nurse asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's going well," I said. Hisao seemed to struggle to find an answer before essentially copying me.

"That's great. Also, one other thing," the nurse said. "My sources tell me that neither of you have been at the pool or the track. I'd like to know if you took up exercising like I requested."

"You have people spying on us?" Hisao asked. He was overly concerned about something that a nurse at this kind of school would have.

The nurse beamed. "Not as such. I just happen to know a few people. But that's not the issue here, so don't try to slip out of it."

"I haven't gotten a chance to," I replied truthfully. I wasn't planning on it, though.

"Well," Hisao began, mischief forming in his eyes. "I was actually just doing some improvised weight lifting, as an exercise." As if to emphasize, he picked up the paint can and pretended it was a dumbbell. The nurse briefly flashes displeasure at Hisao's humor. Smiling again, he turned to Rin. "Tezuka, would you give us a second?"

Rin never answered as he grabbed the two of us by our shoulders and pulled us aside. I didn't know why I got pulled over. I wasn't being a smartass.

The nurse frowned deeply. "Mister Nakai, when I told you to exercise, I wasn't joking. I understand that you are still on your first week and all, but please don't understand the importance of this. I'm coming down on you like this because habits are not easy to form. The more you slip and postpone, the harder it'll be. It's the same with everything, like dieting. Can you promise me to be more serious about this from now on?"

Hisao nodded. "Yeah, I promise. Definitely."

The nurse turned towards me. "Mister Riese, I understand you haven't been able to, but the same applies to you. Do you understand?" I nodded. The nurse looked both of us over, his smile returning. "Okay. That's more like it."

"If you go to the school track tomorrow morning," he continued. "You'll both meet my 'spy,' who probably has no qualms offering consultation to you if you want to jog a bit."

"Consultation?" Hisao asked, confused.

The nurse raised an eyebrow, but merely said goodbye, leaving Hisao without an answer. Hisao was displeased. We regrouped with Rin, who was string at the light fixtures on the ceiling. She doesn't move her eyes when we approach.

"Are you two getting medications for your heart thingies?" she asked.

"Were you listening?" Hisao asked, rather harsh. I thought I was the one who was bipolar.

He hung his head in regret for sounding like a dick. Rin just stared past us, head cocked like a bird's. When Hisao finally looked up and saw her, he sighed.

"...yeah. We're getting heart medications," Hisao dully replied.

"Will they make you better?" Rin asked.

"...no, not really," Hisao replied, seemingly wondering why she asked such a question. "They just make us a bit less worse. The lobby is left in silence as the two stare at each other. While I waited, I tried to whistle, something I could never do. I ended up making that weird sound that is similar to farting.

We eventually left the main building, paint can in my hand and Rin leading Hisao and I to the dorms. In front of the dormitories, I looked at the strange mass of white again and made a connection when Rin had me set the paint can next to it. Rin painted it. There were several paint cans piled around on the ground.

"See," Rin said. "The left side is hardly off the ground yet." I had no idea what she meant, but she decided to explain when Hisao opened his mouth to question. "It's because I couldn't get in the mood yesterday so I gave up and went to meditate instead. Then it was suddenly morning." She turned her head. "I have to work on it, but the guys from art class are helping with the negative spaces and base surfaces whenever, which is a problem."

"Why?" I asked.

"It's easier to paint big areas if there are a lot of people, with hands," she said. She seemed to emphasize 'with hands.' "The reach is better, and it's faster, too." To emphasize even more, she waves her stumpy arm, demonstrating that she had no reach.

I zoned out, thinking about how unnoticeable my disabilities were. They were internal or mental, yet here was a girl with no arms, painting. The thought made no sense to me, even though I thought it. My disabilities were life-threatening when combined all-together. She just had no arms and seemed to lack emotion. I couldn't compare myself to her. It just wasn't justified.

"...so that's why I'm trying to figure out if there is something I need to figure out and then figure that out before it's too late and all hope is lost," Rin said. I realized I tuned her out, not fully understanding what she said, but even if I didn't tune her out, I wouldn't have understood anyhow.

"Why would the hope be lost?" Hisao asked. He must've tuned her out, too.

"Because paint has to be painted and then it has to dry and then it has to be painted over with another kind of paint." She sighed. "It takes time." Apparently, she made sense to herself, coming to a dead stop. I had no idea what to say.

"So," Hisao started, saving the day. "This is your project? You did... this?"

Rin seemed as though it was no big deal. "Yes. Yes," she replied, not a care in the world.

"All of it?"

"Yes."

"Nice. But..." Hisao seemed to have come to a crossroad.

"It's okay, you can say it," Rin assured. "I probably won't get mad." Hisao blushed. An embarrassed kind of blush. "Don't you want to ask?"

"...How do you paint without hands?" Hisao finally asked.

Rin grinned. "See, I'm an easy person to talk to, right?" She then nodded towards her feet. "With my feet."

"I almost guessed that already, but isn't that hard to do?" Hisao asked. It wasn't a stupid question, but the answer was pretty obvious.

"I think she's used to it, Hisao," I said.

Rin kept grinning. "You're both good at guessing."

Hisao seemed unable to comprehend this information. You would think that having ADHD and several other mental disorders would make me the one unable to comprehend.

After a silence, Rin spoke. "The afternoon light works pretty well. I was afraid it would look too flat but it's not like that at all. I think it's actually pretty interesting. I wanted to see what it looks like in dim light." She looked at us. "Do you think it's flat?"

"I hope it's flat. Paintings usually are," I said.

"Not like that flat. You know, flat. Like some people are. No substance, no meat where there should be some. I know a few girls who-"

Hisao stopped her. "Okay, we get it. I can't really tell, though." He went on to explain his artistic ineptness.

Rin looked at me expectantly. "Same here, sorry," I said.

She shrugged, looking up to the sky, as if it held an answer to something. She looked back at us. "I didn't think I'd get any actual work done, but if you give me a hand with the paints I could do a little before it's too dark." She sighed. "I wanted to get a - lamp like the ones they have at the sports track, but there aren't any."

"Why not? I'm not really sure if I can be of any help, though," Hisao said.

"It's just mixing some paints," Rin said. "You can do that. Probably. Do you have motor control problems, like you know, those people who have some? Cerebral palsy, maybe?"

"Not that I know of," Hisao replied.

"I get it. Heart thingy has nothing to do with that." She shot him a sly look.

"No, it doesn't," he said.

Rin looked at me. "How about you? I could get more done if both of you helped."

"It's funny you ask, because I actually have motor control problems," I said. She raised an eyebrow. "But, I could help."

"Let's do it then," Rin said with a grin, sitting on an empty wooden box. She picked up a wide brush with such normalcy that it was quite astonishing. Nonetheless, I began popping cans open and Hisao poured paint into mixing bowls. Rin started painting, occasionally asking us for help.

The work required is enough for one person to handle alone, but I didn't want to leave Hisao with all of it. So I stayed. She mainly had us mix, like she said, or find brushes. Mixing the paints was clearly frustrating Hisao.

"Add half a splash of green," Rin said when Hisao was mixing paints once. He couched to grab the green can.

She sighed. "The other green. This green," she said, pointing to another can with her toe. I grabbed it and handed it to Hisao. He carefully added green paint to the bowl.

"No, that's almost a whole splash," Rin criticized. How did you even measure a splash? "More white," she instructed. "Is green a good color to add?" she asked as an afterthought.

"No idea," Hisao said. "You're the artist here." His remark made her smile, very faintly.

"Do you lack an opinion?" she asked the two of us. We both said we had no idea. "It's okay, because I just got an idea. Add more white."

Hisao did so.

"That's not good. It has to be like..." Rin trailed off in thought. "Like the color when you wake up and you **know** that you saw the meaning of life in your dream but can't remember it... Maybe it's yellow."

My mind was blown. This one girl confused me so much more than any other girl I've ever known. She seemed okay, though. Just a bit on the strange side.

Hisao and I started to switch mixing paints. He would do it for so long, then I'd do it... Hisao seemed to actually enjoy the work somewhat. Whenever he was on break, he would just look at Rin's work and Rin herself working. He smiled whenever she smiled at a rare successful mixture from either of us.

The three of us barely say anything the whole time, Hisao and Rin developing a code for paints and such whenever we did. I found it ridiculous, but we kept working. Rin obviously did most of the work.

I was surprised I didn't have the urge to get up and walk around. I was very bored, and when I'm bored, I start to pace, unless I have video games or something. I had nothing to do except literally watch paint dry.

Even so, we stayed until it became too dark to see properly. We headed back to our rooms, Hisao and I saying goodbye to Rin before entering the dorms. I wanted to shower, but I decided I would in the morning.

"So, you gonna run tomorrow?" I asked Hisao before we reached our rooms.

"Yeah, I guess," he replied. "You?"

"Same. Might as well go through with it."

We reached our rooms. Surprisingly, Kenji didn't make a guest appearance.

"Night man," I said.

Hisao nodded. "Night."

I opened my door, entered, closed the door, slipped my bag and clothes off, and flopped on the bed, prone. The sheets were cool and inviting, and as I laid there, I recounted the days events.

"Got ran over by a legless girl. Met a philosophical armless painter. This school's full of surprises," I said into my pillow. I rolled into supine position. "Mein Gott. They'd have all their limbs if put together," I realized.

I sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling. I briefly considered writing to my uncle or learning more Japanese vocabulary, but I was kind of tired. I wanted to do something, but my eyes were already shut and refused to open.

**AN: Another thing I forgot to mention. The series of three hyphens indicates a word in Japanese that Adolf does not know. You might have seen a single hyphen in the middle of a sentence in the previous chapters, but that's because of uploading to the site. Future chapters will definitely have the three hyphens to indicate unknown words. Chapter nine will be when completely new scenarios arise.**


	5. Cold War

Chapter Five: Cold War

I slept like a baby. The next morning came and I was sound asleep. That was, until I heard pounding on my door. I tried to ignore it, but it persisted. When I got irritated enough, I spoke.

"What?" I groaned in English, my voice muffled by my pillow. I got no answer, so I rolled over and repeated what I said.

"Aren't you running today?" I heard a voice say in Japanese. It was Hisao. I glanced at my clock and saw the time. Quarter 'til seven in the morning.

I swore. "Give me a minute," I said. I had to slowly say the words, since I just got up.

I got out of bed and opened my closet. I rummaged through my clothes to find attire that was proper for running. _I could run in jeans,_ I thought, but then I found the shorts I wore when I played dek hockey. _Good enough._ Along with those, I found a thin t-shirt.

Hisao and I were both exempted from physical education classes, due to our shared condition, so we both didn't have gym clothes. I actually could handle gym, but I didn't complain. I was about to open the door to leave when I did a double-take. _Medicine,_ I remembered. _And deodorant._

I told Hisao to hold his horses for another minute, taking the necessary medicine. When I choked down the pills, I exited the room and told Hisao to wait yet again as I went to brush my teeth. When that was all over and done with, I returned to Hisao.

"Done yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, all done," I replied. We started walking out of the dorms.

"Took you long enough," he said.

"Well, excuse me. I didn't get up on time."

"Yeah, I noticed," he scoffed. "Why?"

"Must've forgot to set my alarm."

Hisao shook his head and we kept walking. The track wasn't hard to miss, so we actually were able to find it. Unlike the art room and the library. When we got to the track, we were both surprised that we weren't the only ones there. Turns out, the other person at the track was our would-be assailant, the legless girl who Hisao seemed to be quite fond of. Observing her, I noticed that she ran really fast. Like, Olympic runner fast.

I racked my brain for a name. _Emi,_ I remembered. She said that she went running during lunch instead of doing something with printouts. Maybe she was a runner. I started towards the track, deciding that it was a good time to start.

"What are you doing?" Hisao asked when I started walking.

"Going to run," I replied. "Why? Aren't you?" He opened his mouth to reply. I could tell he was uncomfortable with Emi being there. "Let me guess, is it because of her?" I gestured towards Emi.

"No!" Hisao said rather quickly. Too quickly, because my suspicions were confirmed. He started to blush.

"Come on, man. I don't think she'll pay you any mind."

He still wanted to reject and possibly leave, but that was when Emi noticed us. She waved and cheerfully jogged towards us with a silly grin on her face.

"Good morning!" she greeted us, rather jollily. "You are Adolf and Hisao, right?" Her grin got wider for some reason. "You may not remember me."

"Emi, right?" I said. "The girl who tossed me in the air like a ragdoll." She blushed with embarrassment.

Hisao seemed clueless about her name, but he still remarked that he couldn't forget such a "blunt introduction."

Both of our remarks made her give us slight puppy-dog eyes before she started to giggle. "Yeah, sorry about that. Again."

"So long as you don't decide that we're bowling pins and you're a bowling ball whenever you see us, it'll be fine," I remarked, sounding like a smartass.

"Yeah, me too," Hisao said.

Emi perked up when she heard that. "Great!" she exclaimed.

"So the 'spy-consultant' the nurse was talking about," Hisao said. "Is that actually you?"

"That's right!" she happily replied.

"Oh. I was expecting someone from the nursing staff, to be honest," Hisao said.

Emi was taken aback by this and opened her mouth in shock. "What, are you saying I don't look like I could be a spy?"

"You could evade capture with the way you run," I remarked.

"No," Hisao replied to Emi. "This is more like a relied. I was afraid he would have someone to watch our every move. Unless you're here to do exactly that."

"No, I'm here for my own reasons," Emi replied. "The nurse just asked me if I had seen 'two messy haired transfer students who look like they're lost' around the track."

_My hair's not messy,_ I thought. It was actually shorter that Hisao's, but it was still unkempt.

"So, why are you down here?" Hisao inquired.

As if she was in the opening credits for an anime, she posed really dramatically. "Training!" _No need for such a dramatic pose._

"For what?" I asked. She needed a reason for that pose.

"Track!" was her answer. _Not good enough._ I was still fixated on the pose.

Hisao seemed to not mind her unneeded posing. "Ah, I see. You're on the track team, then?" _No shithead, she's on the swimming team,_ I sarcastically thought.

Though it was a really dumb question, Emi still nodded very enthusiastically. "Yep! I'm one of the better runners, too." She paused, then a thought dawned on her. "Hey! You should both join up! It's good exercise, you know."

She wasn't lying. As an ex-hockey player, I knew how much you needed to run, on and off ice. It was tiring, but sometimes it felt good. Maybe Hisao also knew that, since he played soccer. Regardless, I shrugged at Emi's proposal.

"Nah, I'm not even sure that I really like running all that much," he said. _Never mind, then._ "Plus, I'm just not into organized sports, you know?"

Emi seemed to catch his drift. "I see, I see. Not that into the whole organization thing. But now that you are both here, I guess we're going to run together, huh?"

I shrugged. "Why not?" I already knew that if we were to race, my ass would lose.

"What?" Hisao asked. Clearly he was more nervous than I. "Er, sure, I guess."

Our reactions pleased Emi. "Are you going to warm up?"

I knew that I should. I pulled a tendon or something during a game that I didn't warm up for. It was the least painful of the warm up-related injuries I had. However, I figured that all we were doing was a short run, so I decided to forego the warm up. I didn't say anything, though. Hisao did.

"Real men don't warm up," Hisao said. _Oh, now you're being a hardass?_ I thought. _Wait until you pull a muscle near your sack because you didn't warm up._

Humorously, Emi's adorable smile turned into an adorable frown. "Oh no, you should always warm up! Bad Hisao!" She then smiled and leaned closer to us. "I hate warming up too." She then laughed, making me feel like she was a shorter Misha without pink drills. "Heck, and I don't even have to stretch my legs!"

I wasn't sure if that was her being serious or a joke about her being legless. As if to confirm that she was serious, Emi started to bounce on her prosthetic legs. Springy.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed, heading on to the track. She wasn't kidding. She was a fantastic runner. Her movements were very fluid and natural, almost as if she was literally born to run. I wasn't a slow runner, Playing right wing ensured that, but I couldn't match her if I tried. Well, maybe if I tried, I could, but she'd outrun me in the long run.

Bringing up the rear was Hisao, seemingly making sure he was running properly. His arrhythmia was much more serious than mine, so it made sense. His movements were more calculated, unlike Emi's natural movements and my relaxed ones.

I was surprised I was able to run as much and as fast as I did. I was on the same lap as Emi, though she was clearly beating me. I wasn't racing, obviously. Hisao, however, stopped rather quickly. I kept going, trying to keep in stride with Emi, before I starting getting the damned side pains. I slowed down just as we were about to pass Hisao. I slowed down and stopped next to him, but Emi was oblivious to our stoppage.

"She can really run," I remarked, catching my breath, holding my side.

"Tell me about it," Hisao replied, still catching his breath. His breathing sounded much more labored than mine. Mine was normal compared to his.

Emi was about to pass us when she skidded to a halt. "Finished already?" she asked.

Hisao hung his head in shame. "Heh, yeah," he said. "I'm not in very good shape right now." She turned to me.

I merely nodded. "Yeah, my side started cramping up." I could never breathe calmly when running.

Emi nodded, grinning. "Well, the important thing is you started, right?" We nodded. "Next time, you just have to try to hold out longer, and then longer, and longer, and eventually you'll be great!"

I nodded and Hisao said he'd keep that in mind.

I glanced at Hisao. "We should go get ready for class."

He nodded. "We should." He looked at Emi. "Shouldn't you?"

Emi shrugged. "Nah, I've got plenty of time."

"Are you sure?" Hisao asked.

Emi shrugged again. "Not really... but I've got to finish my routine! See you guys later!"

We said our goodbyes to Emi and she continued running. The rush I got after I started unwinding from the run felt good, but I knew that the fatigue would be a pain in the rectum.

Hisao and I started to walk back to the dorms.

"I'll have to try to keep this up," he said to me as we walked back.

"What, running?" I asked.

He nodded. "It made me feel good to take matters into my own hands."

"I know what you mean." I glanced at my watch. _7:45 A.M.,_ the watch read. _Damn, we ran for nearly an hour? _I wanted to take a shower, so I sped up my pace.

Hisao checked his watch and sped up his pace, too. Don't think he wanted a shower, though.

We raced back to the dorms. I grabbed my clothes out of my room and went into the bathroom to shower. Hisao was already in a stall, taking his shower. I got into a stall and started to shower, lathering up a washcloth and cleaning the sweat and grime off of me. Again, I ran my fingers over my scars unconsciously. When I washed my hair, I got out and grabbed a towel to start drying. Once I had my crotch dry, I put on my underwear and started drying myself off completely.

Hisao got out of the shower after I put my boxers on and started drying. I spotted a silhouette of a man while I was drying my hair.

"'Sup?" Kenji said as he materialized out of the steam.

"What the hell?!" I swore in English. He was standing there, naked. Letting his thing just dangle. I averted my eyes

"What?" Hisao said as he turned. "What are you doing here?!" he asked when he saw Kenji, obviously spooked.

"I should be asking you guys that," Kenji retorted. "I've been looking for you all over the place, dudes."

"What do you mean, 'all over the place?'" Hisao asked. Hisao seemed to realize that Kenji was just letting it all hang out, because I heard him move something and presumably cover his manhood.

"You know, your rooms, and... Yeah, that's it," Kenji replied. "Hey, I mean, I still had to get up, though. Whatever. It's not important. Can I borrow some money?" My eyes were still averted and I wanted to slip out of the bathroom. Awkwardness crept into the atmosphere.

"Money?" Hisao asked. "Sure."

Kenji seemed pleased with his successful scheme due to his tone of voice. "Awesome."

"Wait," Hisao said. "Why do you need it?"

"Ehhhh..." Kenji tried to think. "Can't you just give it to me because I had the good will not to run through either of your pockets while you were both showering? I could have, but I exercised restraint. And in the end, isn't it the thought that counts? Come on, be pals."

That was a load of bull. "I don't think that warrants any sort of monetary gain on your part," I said, eyes still pointed away from Kenji. "Plus, we don't even know what you need the money for."

"I'm offended man, but if that is your game, then fine, I guess I have no choice. I want to order a pizza, and I already have most of the cost of the pizza. I need you guys' help for the rest."

_Only if I get some effing pizza,_ I thought.

Hisao had similar thoughts. "We get some of that pizza too, right?"

"No."

"What?" I said, my eyes involuntarily locking with his in a glare.

"Are you serious?" Hisao asked, clearly unhappy.

"Yeah," Kenji replied. "I would give you guys some, but you have class, you don't have time to eat a pizza."

"What about you?!" Hisao angrily questioned.

"I'm not going to class," Kenji said. "I have to wait for the pizza and pay the guy. And then eat it. It's not easy. You have to obtain the pizza stealthily. If you don't, everyone will see you. And the pizza. And they will ask for a slice. It's a hard world out there. Everyone wants a piece. Them you're left pizzaless in an unforgiving world. It's happened before, that's how I know. Every day, I plan my vengeance, so that when the people who wronged me order a pizza, I will be there. Ever vigilant!" He struck a pose. Awkward. "But yeah, I only need like four hundred yen. Please! You're my only hope! I can't go outside and buy my own pizza, it's too far! I try not to go out unless it's absolutely necessary. Let me tell you what happened the last time I went out without carefully planning it out in advance.  
I was outside. I can't remember what I was doing. Something. Standing? Maybe wondering how I got there. And then, out of nowhere, it happened. Like a flash of lightning, splitting the sky, like how you split a sandwich into two equal pieces to make it more manageable to hold and eat, a bird crapped on my head. It was the second most shocking moment of my life."

"And the first?" I asked.

He ignored me. "It was like in the openings to some kind of anime show, you know how there is always a part where the main dude is fighting his rival, and they fly at each other and clash swords and there's like, big dramatic colored auras and zoom? It was like that, but with poo."

"Okay," Hisao said dully.

"So yeah, I need some money. Please? Don't leave me hanging, man. I only need like one thousand yen," Kenji begged.

"It was four hundred," I said.

"Okay."

"What?"

"I'll pay you back, I swear," Kenji persisted.

"You better," Hisao said. "That's what it means to borrow stuff."

"I don't know when I'll be able to pay you back."

"You have one week."

Kenji let out a long groan, made more creepy by his wangdoodle. "You're not supposed to be such tight asses about money between brothers in arms, man. Men have it bad enough as it is. Did you know that male porn stars only make about half of what female porn stars make?"

"That doesn't mean anything unless you're a porn star."

"So maybe I am a porn star, on the side, struggling to make ends meet as I fight the feminist agenda, and you can't even spot me your crumbs, you bastard. Nobody understands. Nobody."

"Feminists again? I don't think feminists would support pornography," I told Kenji.

"This stuff is important. I can see that neither of you give a shit, but this is serious, here. Feminists... are a dangerous enemy, make no mistake. You take them lightly, and you'll wake up in the morning with a knife in your back, bam! Out of nowhere!"

"Just how are you going to wake up if you were stabbed in your sleep?"

"Women are terrible at stabbing things."

"I thought you just said don't take them lightly," Hisao said.

"Well, I mean don't take them lightly for the big things. Individually they're not a threat, but if there was some kind of war, like a big war, with men on one side, and the feminist forces on the other side, it would be pretty ugly. And that day will come, when the feminists come out of their central top secret worldwide feminist headquarters, and say 'It's on now, motherfuckers!'"

Hisao wasn't taking Kenji's shit. "You're being ridiculous, there's no big worldwide feminist headquarters building, where would they even hide that? I mean, it'd have to be massive, you couldn't hide that on Earth, someone would notice a big fortress with women only in it."

Kenji gave us a stupid grin. "Who said it was on Earth?" Hisao turned and started frowning in the mirror and I just wondered why the hell I was there.

"Yeah," Kenji continued. "There is a war going on. A war not many know about, but it's a great one that will one day boil over, and encompass all of the known world. Then, we will have to pick sides. We will have to make a stand. In fact, it's happening right now. Imagine it, the bloody battlefield. A vicious conflict without end. I almost gave up, when I thought this cause was silly... when I grew tired of the bleakness of our fight... when I mistook the time the power went out for a feminist raid and thought the end was near... But then I realized that if I gave up, it would all be over, and I was like, 'woah' and knew I had to get serious. Because I am the last sane man in an insane world. It's about duty."

"Must be a pretty crappy movement if it hinges on one naked guy, ranting in a bathroom at two other naked guys," Hisao countered. I was actually in my boxers, so I wasn't completely naked.

"So can I have the money?"

The conspiracy theorist was blocking our exit. I started putting my clothes on and allowed Hisao to defuse the situation. In the end, Hisao and I agreed to give Kenji two hundred yen each, just to get Kenji's naked ass out of the way.

"Awesome. Thanks, dudes. We should go bowling later on," Kenji said.

"Cousin!" I jokingly said, reminded of Roman Bellic from _Grand Theft Auto IV_.

Kenji seemed to get my joke, because he was shocked. Hisao however, wondered why we would go bowling.

"Because it's the ultimate sport," Kenji explained. "There are almost no women bowlers either, making it also the manliest sport." He paused and thought. "Should I wear my pink bowling shirt with matching shoes or the pastel green with flower accents?"

"There are bowling clothes?" Hisao asked. I smacked my face.

"The pink one," I told Kenji.

"Anyway, you had better pay us back," Hisao said.

"I can pay you guys back in stuff, right?" Kenji asked.

I wanted to ask what kind of stuff, but Hisao doesn't allow it. "I don't know. We have to get to class, you're kind of in the way."

Kenji apologized. "Yeah, I don't want to hold you guys up, and I have some stuff to do myself. The time has come."

"For what?" I asked.

"I just like saying that." He paused. "Okay, now the time has really come."

"For what?" I repeated.

"I have to use the bathroom. Get out of it."

"We were going to!" Hisao exclaimed. "And what does that mean? It's a big bathroom."

"So? I have to be alone or I can't go. The pressure..." _Says the guy who holds a fifteen minute long discussion, naked, with another naked guy and a half-naked guy._

"Okay. What if someone else comes in?" Hisao asked.

Kenji paused. "I'll think of something."

Hisao unleashed his rather pathetic practiced frown. Nonetheless, we finally left the bathroom, Hisao heading to his room for clothes. When he walked out, we walked to homeroom together.

"That was beyond strange," I said.

"Let's not talk about it," Hisao replied. Apparently it was too disturbing. We continued in silence.

We arrived at 3-3 at 8:10, twenty minutes before homeroom started. We were the only two there for a while. Hisao nodded off and smacked his head off of the desk. I chuckled and he glared at me.

I heard tapping from out in the hallway, and then Lilly popped into the classroom. She paused at the door, as if she needed to be invited in. Nonetheless, she entered after straightening her clothes to look prim and proper. Hisao raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me," Lilly said.

"Morning, Lilly," I said, breaking the possibly unnerving silence.

"Adolf? Good morning. I didn't hear you come in," Lilly replied. She seemed wary of my presence there so early.

"Well, Hisao and I were already here," I replied truthfully.

"Oh," she sounded. "Have you seen Hanako today, by any chance?"

"No, she usually comes in either just before the bells ring or after they do. Why, you want me to pass on a message?"

"No," she said. "It's fine. It's strange, but I think we're the only three people in the school right now. I didn't hear anyone else on my way here."

I glared at Hisao. "We shouldn't have gotten up so early, then." He shrugged.

"You're chastising yourselves for doing something that other people should? Punctuality is a good thing. I think so, anyway." She sighed. "It's a very busy morning today. The festival is coming up soon, and today is the deadline for event registration, budget reports, and any other official paperwork. It could be that everyone is trying to complete the necessary forms at the last minute. Maybe that is why it's so quiet today."

"Maybe," I said, looking at Hisao. He nodded off again.

"Hi hi!" a familiar voice boomed into the room after breaching the door. Hisao shot up, clearly startled. Lilly flinched visibly at this.

"Hi, Adolf-chan! Hi, Hicchan!" Misha said in her usual loud voice as she entered the room with Shizune.

"Hi," Hisao and I both said.

Shizune signed to Misha. "Look, it's the class representative! Hello!" Lilly smiled, maybe due to Misha/Shizune's use of "look."

"Good morning," Lilly politely replied.

Shizune signed again. "Of course, you're not the representative of this class, right, right?" Misha translated.

"I'm not."

The replies from Lilly seemed more restrained. Maybe the two really were at odds with each other. I wondered if she knew Shizune was there. Hisao seemed to think the same thing.

"You're here early, Shizune," Hisao said.

Shizune signed. "You two were here even earlier than us!" Misha puffed her cheeks out angrily. She seemed like she was mad. Unless she was also Shizune's emotion translator.

It was understandable that Shizune didn't like Hisao's remark. We were there earlier than them, and he fell asleep. Before either of us could react to Shizune's hostility, she had moved on, signing to Misha.

"Class rep! It's a good thing you're here! We have to talk," Misha relayed. "The festival is coming up in three days, right? Every other class has already handed in their projected budget reports for their events! Even the first-years! Except you!" She ended her translation with a laugh.

"There is still time to hand it in, isn't there?" Lilly asked. She had a point. I doubted the deadline would have been at eight.

Shizune seemed pissed, signing something to Misha. "Today! The deadline is today! You're certainly taking your time, aren't you? If I had it my way, I'd have had all of the necessary paperwork days ago, but someone had to say, 'the deadline, please extend it!'"

"Yes, that was me," Lilly calmly replied. "Planning something on this scale is not a small task, and a week is too small a time frame to expect a whole class to work out such a complex issue completely."

Shizune signed again. "Do you want to know what's harder than distributing the funds for one class' event? Handling the same matter for every class in the school and then some! The one who does that is me!" Misha could've been one hell of an actor. She had her hands on her hips, standing straight, all serious. I was slightly amused, but Lilly wasn't.

"There's a whole day left, guys. Don't you think it's a little much?" I interjected.

"Please, Adolf," Lilly said. "It's all right." She seemed pleased that I sided with her, but displeased at the same time. Women. "If this is about the budget, then I'm disappointed you think I have forgotten about it. I understand how important it is."

Shizune seemed unconvinced, signing yet again to Misha. "Then! Can I have it, please?"

"I doubt she has it on her right now," I said. Hisao started to nod off again.

Lilly nodded. "It's not here right now. I asked two students to take care of it for me. Students from my class." Hisao's head shot up for the same reason I cocked my eyebrow. She emphasized the last sentence, so she must have known that Shizune and Misha were trying to trap us into the Council. Lilly was a gun and we were her ammunition.

Shizune seemed angry again, signing to Misha once more. "It was your responsibility! A budget report isn't something you should just be delegating away. As class rep, it's your job to be on top of things! This kind of disregard for proper procedure is really just terrible!"

Lilly wasn't impressed. "They completed it, being capable of doing so, but the students have been sick recently, so they could not come to school and give it back to me. If you want, I will apologize on their behalf for getting sick."

"Okay!" Misha quickly said, no response from Shizune being translated. Shizune herself seemed torn between being appalled or joyous. Either way, she signed to Misha. "Lilly, don't they live here at the school? That's a five minute walk, you know. What could they possibly have that prevents them from taking five minutes out of their busy lives... to drop off something that will affect the enjoyment of their entire class?"

Lilly opened her mouth to respond, but Shizune pushed towards Lilly, flailing her hands around. Hisao and I looked at each other.

"This is gonna be good," he muttered so only I could hear. I smirked, but watched intently, Misha speaking for Shizune.

"And what's with that attitude? I said that it's not something you should be delegating away! Are you the class representative or aren't you?" Misha exclaimed, her voice not conveying Shizune's true rage. "Tell me the names of those two students, they should have your job if you can't even handle something this simple yourself."

"One form isn't the full extent of what I am supposed to take care of," Lilly retorted, her polite mannerisms being tested severely. She held her ground quite well, her voice being the only indicator of her growing impatience. The only indicator that Shizune couldn't spot.

Shizune was getting excited though, her fingers wrapped on the frame of her glasses. Lilly was unable to sense her excitement. "Of course," Misha said for Shizune. "You do so much, class rep! It must be so difficult being you!"

Though Misha presented Shizune's dish without spices, Lilly could taste them. Lilly seemed like she was ready to make like a bomb and drop. In fact, that's what she did.

"I was actually just discussing the budget report before you came by. You must be very talented to have finished all your student council duties so quickly that you can track me down to make sure I don't forget my own," Lilly jabbed.

Misha spoke for Shizune. "Are you accusing me of slacking off? It seems like you're confusing me with yourself!"

"I don't think so. That would be a very difficult thing for me to do, comparing myself to you."

"You're right, the difference between us is like heaven and hell."

"And it's not hard to guess which one you might represent."

The animosity the two held towards each other could be felt throughout the room. Even the carefree Misha started to realize the seriousness of this conflict.

Shizune signed to Misha. "You two!" She pointed towards us. "Don't you slack off either!"

This made Hisao's eyes widen. "What are you talking about?"

"You two are taking part in the festival, right? Then! I hope you two are going to do a lot more to make sure it goes smoothly than this person!"

"Why am I being dragged into this?" Hisao complained. "I've done more than enough, I think. If you're angry with Lilly, that has nothing to do with me." _Way to be a bro, Hisao._

Lilly was visibly upset with Hisao. "Now, wait just a second... are you implying the president is more right in scolding me than yourself?" Hisao started to fumble over words. This was a cold war. Someone was going to get the launch codes, and I was JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I had to defuse the situation.

Displeased with Hisao's answer, I glared at him. "I'm the new guy to the country itself, in case you forgot. I couldn't do much, even if I wanted to," I commented to the Student Council.

Lilly lightened up a bit. "That's right. You shouldn't expect a transfer student- especially one from another country- to jump right into it on his first week."

Lilly backing me up felt nice, so I decided to support her.

"Yeah, you're being unjust to the both of us," I remarked to Shizune.

Misha seemed unable to handle such a large scale conversation. "Hold up. Hicchan, what are you saying?"

"It's just that I hardly think it's fair you can say that, seeing that I've helped you guys."

Shizune signed. "Are you saying I'm wrong?"

"It's too early to argue with you. ...Yes, I think it's unfair of you to get on my case."

Shizune signed yet again. "Hicchan, you want too much! But! You have a point. Okay, okay okay! You're not lazy Hicchan!" Misha laughed after translation, then turned towards me. Shizune signed some more. "Adolf-chan, excuses, excuses. Miss Class Rep has had plenty of time to deal with her report. And we repeatedly offered you a position to help with the student council work, but you refused to commit yourself to making the festival a success."

I groaned. "But I'm from the United States! We never do these kinds of things there, and like I said before..." I trailed off, realizing she wanted confrontation. It was like a game of Risk, and she wasn't going to win. "You know what? Forget it," I added as I turned away from the pair.

I turned to Lilly, who was still visibly unhappy with Hisao. "Lilly, I'll talk to you later. Class is about to start, so if I see Hanako, I'll let her know you were looking for her." I could feel Shizune just stop. I turned my back on her, something she must've never experienced.

"Thank you, Adolf," she said, pleased with my kindness. "I'll leave now, then." She smiled very sweetly at me and turned to exit. However, her exit was blocked by the Student Council. I only knew because Misha started talking.

"Class rep!" Misha said. "Shicchan says 'Don't forget that report, please!'"

Lilly grimaced. "I won't. Would that be all?"

"Yup!" Misha exclaimed.

Lilly had an exasperated look on her face. "Then, good day to you all." I knew nothing was directed towards me, but her voice was sharp. I didn't dare look behind me, to the angry Student Council. Completely ignoring them, I sat back down.

Hisao seemed to have a little remorse. "Shizune, you went a little too far today," I heard him say. Misha agreed with him.

Misha laughed. Shizune signed something. "Shicchan thinks you should mind your own business." I was clearly not being mentioned. Shizune must've wanted to take a pair of pliers to my manhood. "Hicchan, we have a few last minute things to take care of before class! We might be late, so! Can you please cover for us?"

"Yeah," Hisao replied.

"Perfect! Yay! Okay! Thanks, Hicchan!"

I heard the girls' footsteps slowly grow fainter as they walked out into the hall. I looked at Hisao.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"What?"

"What you said earlier! I didn't help?"

He became flustered. "I-I..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, I was just put on the spot." What he said was true in a sense. We were put on the spot, but I guess I handled it better than him. Somewhat reluctantly, I accepted his apology, but we were silent for a long time.

Hanako never showed up during morning classes, but I still made it a point to let her know Lilly was looking for her whenever I saw her. Misha and Shizune returned, however.

The class lazily passed by, as it seemed to always do. It was rather boring, but I preferred it to the highly tense confrontation between Shizune and Lilly. That was just too much, I thought.

The clock was pretty loud, being the only source of noise in the classroom. Mutou decided to plaster the board with equations from the textbook, something I was accustomed to back home. It was funny, because Mutou seemed to clack the chalk on the board almost in sync with the clock's ticking.

I had nothing to do, so I just stared blankly. I could have copied the problems, but they were in the book. Hisao did, though. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a pink mass looming above Hisao. Hisao didn't seem to notice for some time, but when he did, he was startled.

"What are you doing?" he asked Misha. He tried to ask quietly, but Misha must have never learned the definition of "quiet."

"What are you doing, Hicchan?" she asked in return, her voice loud as always. Hisao became flustered, his cover blown.

"I'm copying down that stuff, what are you doing? Why so loud?"

I turned my head enough to see Misha's face. She had a confused look on her face. "Aw, really? But it's all in the book... that's why no one else is copying it down!"

"I know, why are you so loud?"

"Why are you so quiet, Hicchan? It's hard to hear you."

Hisao swung his head around to see if anyone was paying any attention to them. Unsurprisingly, everyone was, and I wanted to chuckle. I glanced at Shizune and she was smiling at Hisao.

"Why are you doing this?" Hisao asked the Student Council.

"Huh?" Misha was confused again. She was completely unaware of Mutou awkward staring at her and Hisao. She was trying to balance her textbook on one finger, for some reason. I noticed that things could escalate quickly, but Mutou turned his back to the disruptive duo. Hisao seemed relieved, slumping in his chair.

After that, the day passed uneventfully. Hisao and I went to the cafeteria for lunch, but we didn't really have much to say. I was still mad at him for taking all the credit.

When the final bell sounded, I had nothing to do, so I reviewed what we learned in class. Hisao did the same, but we weren't the only two in the class. Shizune and Misha also remained, though they were conversing with some girl from a different class. Shizune was signing so fast, her hands made noise moving through the air.

Misha was struggling to keep up with Shizune, who seemed to have a jimmy or two rustled. _Probably from me this morning,_ I concluded. Hisao put his head down and I just kept reviewing. It was none of our business. I heard Shizune's wrists crackle. Misha fought to translate.

_Poor Misha,_ I thought. _She has to keep up with Shizune and that other chick._

I glanced back at Misha and she was visibly fatigued. Hisao was looking back, too. Misha caught a break as their deal quickly ended. The two sat back down.

Misha groaned really loud. "I'm so tired!" I paid no attention to the two. I kept looking over what we learned.

"Festival preparation must be tough for you," Hisao said. He had a point. Everyone and their mother seemed to take it seriously, something that never happened back home. Plus, people would chit-chat about their plans. I knew I had nothing to do. Hisao never mentioned any plans, either.

I audibly agreed with Hisao. I looked up and saw Shizune scoffing at me. She clearly was deciding whether or not to ignore me, but in the end, she started signing to Hisao. Misha perked up, translating. "Well, we're in the Student Council, you know, so we're pretty busy." Misha's translation actually conveyed Shizune's thoughts, for once, not the bastard child of Misha's laughter and Shizune's thoughts.

"Sarcasm?" Hisao inquired, confusing Misha. Though Misha's translation conveyed Shizune's thoughts, it still contained Misha's chipper mood. That would be hard to get used to. "Never mind. How could we forget, with you two trying get us to join at least twice a day?" I knew that my actions effectively preempted any future recruiting attempts, however.

Misha laughed. "But, Hicchan, some could say the work is too much. It'd be nice if students were to show a little more support for their leadership, some appreciation to the ones who are working so hard to make it all possible." I could tell by Shizune's glare that I was one of those people. "Maybe," Misha continued, "for example, a little help. That's asking too much is it? Yep! Help would be appreciated! From students like you! If students would show their dedication and school spirit, and offer some help, well, I don't exactly need it, but I wouldn't necessarily refuse it... So! It would be nice if someone would... Oh? Hello!"

Misha's unexpected end caused me to look over my shoulder. Hanako was shyly peeking into the room.

"Hey!" Misha said as she ran over to Hanako. "Playing delinquent again?"

I thought that was a bit mean on Misha's part. Hanako started to blush at the jest. Shizune walked over next to Misha and stared at Hanako rather in a rather invasive way. Hanako backed up behind the door, only her fingers being visible. If Shizune disliked Hanako simply because she was friends with Lilly, that was petty.

"What is it, Hanako?" I asked, rising from my seat.

"H... has Lilly been here?" the shy girl asked.

Misha felt the need to preempt my answer. "Sorry, haven't seen Satou. She, eh, came by in the morning though."

_Damnit Misha,_ I thought. I then noticed that Hanako kept shooting glances at Shizune, who stared at her. I felt bad. Shizune was an imposing girl, so Hanako was probably scared beyond belief.

"Do... do you know where she is?" Hanako asked.

Shizune signed. "If she has any sense in her head, she's in her classroom, working on their festival project. But who knows where that woman is loitering at," Misha translated.

Ignoring the other three, I walked over to Hanako. "She was looking for you this morning. Why, do you need to find her?" I asked.

She hesitated to answer my question. "Y... yeah."

"I'll come with you, if you don't mind," I said.

Hanako nodded very slightly, though she was rigid. Maybe it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. Chance are, she would have been much more at ease if I didn't ask. I've dealt with timid people before, but she was a wild card. I considered myself anti-social, not exactly a people person, but I was the most outgoing person on the planet compared to her.

I glanced at my watch. "It's almost time for dinner. You and Lilly were going to eat, huh?"

Again, Hanako nodded ever-so-slightly. I decided it would be best to check the cafeteria. I expected some sort of crowd of people there, never having been to the cafeteria for dinner myself. It was easy to see why Hanako wouldn't enter alone. Grabbing my bag, we headed out. We walked together down the hallway comfortably. I've never really walked with a girl prior to that, so it felt a little awkward to me, even though it was likely beyond awkward for her. She was well outside of arm's reach, though I didn't mind. It wasn't like we were dating, plus we only recently met.

Going down to the cafeteria, we are met by a small crowd. Lilly was absent from the entire scene, causing Hanako's head to sink.

"Where else have you looked?" I asked.

"J-just at the library... I was reading..." she replied.

_Maybe Shizune was right._ "Maybe we should check her class. Three-two, right?"

"R-right," Hanako confirmed, nodding slightly again. She seemed like a decontamination suit was required merely to look at her. Silence settled in between us. Awkward silence.

_Think, Adolf, what is the best thing to break the silence?_ I thought. Smalltalk. Smalltalk had to work. It was my fallback for everything.

"Do you and Lilly usually hang out after class?" I asked.

"Y-yes."

_Goddamnit Adolf, quit being Captain Obvious!_ I thought, scolding myself.

"Must suck being in separate classes," I tried to keep going.

Hanako's nod to that was really sharp, not subtle and nearly unnoticeable. "Lilly... comes by the classroom, though. Even when she's busy..." Hanako smiled during her sentence, probably in appreciation of Lilly's dedication to her friend. Hanako's smile, though, was quite possibly the cutest smile I ever saw.

The smalltalk stopped, but both of us were fine with that. We headed back up the stairs to go to the lobby while another group of students descended. They didn't seem to notice Hanako, but she used me as a shield, anyway. I didn't question it, because I already had an idea of why she used me as a shield.

"J-just keep going," Hanako said, despite me not questioning her. I did so, and the descending group passed us, not paying either of us any mind. After they were gone, Hanako retook her original position beside me. She seemed tense. Really tense. Heading up to the third floor, she was still tense. Like I said, I had dealt with timid people before, including myself, but it seemed as though Hanako had severe social anxiety. Had it not been for Lilly, us walking together would have been merely a dream. We walked to class 3-2 in tense silence.

As we walked down the familiar hallway, Lilly's classroom was making noise lots of noise, audible from a halfway down the hall.

I finally destroyed the silence. "Seems like we found her," I said. I wondered why Hanako didn't just come here in the first place. _Maybe she trusts you, idiot,_ I thought.

When we reached the door to 3-2, Hanako basically thrust me in front of her. Regardless, I opened the door, being met by a bunch of busybees. Paint cans, decorations, and banned littered the room, obviously for the festival. Our primary objective was to find Lilly, which wasn't hard. She seemed to lead the pack, obviously since she was the class representative, but also because people were crowded around her.

"Hi, Lilly," I said as Hanako and I made our way to her. She perked up her head and broke off conversation with a notably shorter girl, likely a classmate.

"Sorry, who...?" Lilly questioned.

"My apologies," I said, sounding more sophisticated than I am. "It's Adolf. Hanako's here too."

"H-hi," Hanako said skittishly. People were everywhere, so putting the pieces together wasn't hard.

Lilly paused, likely assessing our situation, before returning to the girl she left hanging. "For the moment, just ask Moriya for his advice. Kenji's busy with painting one of the banners already." The other girl nodded and bounced off, using the wall for navigation.

_Kenji?_ I thought. _No. It can't be him._ I sharply turned, leaning past Hanako. Shockingly, and much to my dismay, Kenji was in a secluded corner, painting on cloth. He had his face directly into the fabric, due to his blindness.

"Sorry about that," Lilly said as she turned towards us, smiling. "Our class doesn't have many students with even partial eyesight, so they're in high demand."

I almost forgot that the class was for the blind. Feeling generous, I offered my help and asked Hanako if she would mind helping. She said she would help too. Our offers of help put Lilly at ease.

"Ah, that's good," Lilly said, relaxed. "This might actually get finished before everyone goes off to dinner, now. Would you be able to help the person painting the main banner? It's a big task for him to do, but nobody else can help."

"Kenji? I don't see why not," I said.

Lilly's unseeing eyes shot open in surprise. "I take it you've met?"

"Our dorm rooms are right next to each other, along with Hisao's. He's a bit difficult to miss."

"Well," Lilly giggled. "It's good to see you're getting friends so fast."

_Kenji's not exactly friend material... but he seems alright._ I then re-noticed Hanako's silence, deciding to get started. "We ought to go help then. He knows what to do, right?"

"That's right. Just ask if you have any problems," Lilly said, walking away.

Hanako and I began our journey to the corner of the classroom to meet Kenji. He was crouched, eyes trained on the tapestry.

"Hey Kenji," I said. He didn't reply, dragging his brush along the half-finished kanji that was first drawn with a pencil. "Kenji?" I repeated. I knew he wasn't deaf.

"Huh?" he said, getting up. "What? Who is it?"

"It's me, Adolf. You kn-"

"Right, right, I know that, man. What're you doing here, though?" He must have been really focused to be so dismissive.

I motioned towards Hanako, who walked out from behind me. "We were going to help with the banner."

"H... Hello..." Hanako choked out.

"Oh," Kenji observed. "Er, hey. I guess that's okay." I could tell that he was secretly displeased by Hanako helping.

Begrudgingly, Hanako and I sat ourselves down opposite of Kenji. There were numerous small paint cans scattered around. I tried to read what Kenji had painted. Something about noodles.

"You guys doing something with noodles?" I asked Kenji.

"Yeah, some stalls outside. Or something." Kenji didn't seem to care, obviously.

"So... how do you want to do this? We do the borders, you do the text?" I asked.

Kenji merely nodded. I was never a good painter, so I was fine with that. I couldn't color within the lines sometimes, anyhow. I went to grab a brush, noticing that Hanako was already deliberating between paints. She already had a delicate pattern started when I put my brush to the fabric. The three of us set off working, but Kenji took advantage of Hanako's distraction to whisper to me.

"Okay man, why're you here?" He asked.

"Hanako wanted help finding Lilly," I replied truthfully.

He scowled. "I get it. It looks like I misjudged you." He suddenly smiled. "You're infiltrating them, aren't you? Going deep undercover?" I sighed, noting I should have expected such a response.

"Then why are you here?" I asked.

"Same reason. It sucks, but there's no better way to get intel than by going in yourself." He frowned. "We gotta stick together, man. This is a harsh school, a harsh world."

"Yes, yes it is," I replied. Sarcasm tinged my words, but Kenji missed the sarcasm. He leaned back, glad that I was supportive of his anti-feminist cause. Pushing it off, I got back to work.

After working for quite some time, Hanako leaned back. "Finished," she announced.

"Me too," I said as I slumped back. "Good job." She shyly smiled at my compliment.

Our patterns connected neatly. I tried to copy her nice pattern. It wasn't too bad. I rose up from the ground and looked around the room. The only people left in the room were Hanako, Kenji (working on another sign), me, Lilly, and a couple of students talking with Lilly. It wasn't surprising. It was getting late.

I look at Hanako, still sitting on the ground. "Need a hand?" I asked, extending my hand. She took it and I helped her to her feet. I saw scars on her wrist out of the corner of my eye, but thought nothing of it. She must have noticed, because she covered her right wrist with her left wrist.

I looked at the banner, slightly guilty. "Looks good, right?"

She looked taken aback, before realizing I meant the banner. "It does... I guess," she said with a smile. Her smile had some sort of warming effect on me. It was so... innocent.

We trekked back to Lilly, our navigation easier due to the decorations being placed up on stuff.

"Banner's finished," I said when we got to Lilly. "Is that it?

Lilly nodded appreciatively. "Thank you Adolf, Hanako. If there's any way I can thank you...?"

I thought about it. I didn't need payment. "Don't worry about it," I said.

"I don't mind either," Hanako said. Lilly nods, at least before remembering the anti-feminist.

"Oh, is Kenji still here?"

"Yeah, just finished," Kenji called from across the room. Carefully, he slid his sign onto an empty surface to dry before walking past us and out the door.

"See you, Adolf," he called as he left.

"See you," I called back.

The two students that were talking to Lilly before said their goodbyes and left. That left Hanako, Lilly, and me.

"Just us, then," I remarked.

"I hope we don't have to do anything like that again," Lilly said, frustrated.

"What, working after school?" I asked.

"Indeed. The class' plans this year were ambitious. Maybe too ambitious." Venom tainted her voice towards the implied Student Council.

"The stalls look nice, though," Hanako said, with a smile.

"I agree. It shows that lots of time and effort has been put into them," I said.

Lilly smiled. "My my, I'm sure a lot of us would be glad to hear that. At least now there's not much work to do until the festival itself."

Hanako looked at the time. "Umm... it's getting pretty late. Should we go?"

"That's probably a good idea. Are you going back to the dorms as well, Adolf?" Lilly asked

"Yeah, might as well," I said.

Together we walked out of the school and out to the gardens. It was really calm and relaxing. Maybe the lack of students helped it being so calm. Of course, one or two could be seen rushing to the dorms or out of the dorms. It was also silent, barring our footsteps and Lilly's cane. I was pretty stressed that day, and the relaxing atmosphere was nice, so I yawned.

Lilly stopped and turned towards me. "Tired?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Still adjusting. Plus, what happened this morning didn't really help."

"Ah," Lilly sighed. "About that... I'm sorry about it being so public. Shizune and I... go back some ways." She sighed again. "I'll be glad once the festival is over, in any case."

"I can imagine. Back in America, we never really had festivals, though. Even if we did..." I trailed off, remembering that no one really cared about school events.

"I forgot you were from the United States," Lilly said. "Nonetheless, Yamaku stresses the idea of a school community, so the staff likes to make our festivals and such special occasions."

"Yet the students do the work. How unfair," I mused, even though it would have been just the same in the U.S.

Hanako and Lilly both chuckled at my statement, which was actually serious.

"I suppose coming from a strict all-girls school helped me a bit with Yamaku. Compared to there, Yamaku is much more relaxed," Lilly said. _So that's why she seemed so uppity,_ I thought. The three of us approached the dormitories, the time coming to depart from each others' company.

"Bye Lilly, Hanako," I said. They both politely nodded to me and set off towards their own dorms. There was a staff member patrolling the grounds, to ensure that no one got any funny ideas. I strolled on by, sore as can be. I was slowly adjusting to the Japanese school system.

I walked up to my room and slipped out of the uniform. _I need to get these washed,_ I thought. I would have to find out where that would be in the morning. I wanted to relax and turn on my Xbox, but I didn't have the gumption. Instead, I brushed my teeth and lied on my bed. I set the alarm so that I would get up, but it wasn't too late. Nonetheless, I slowly drifted off to sleep yet again.

**AN: Just a few more chapters and it stops being extremely similar to the VN! Granted, I will use some events from the VN during Adolf's Act II, but mainly some of the major scenes will be used simply because they have a certain plot element I wish to tamper with. Trust me, it won't be like the VN.**


	6. Tumbles and Supplies

Chapter Six: Tumbles and Supplies

I had a nice dream. It involved nice things that I don't remember. The only thing was that I knew it was a nice dream. Until the alarm clock went off. My arm instinctively rose up and fell on the snooze button. I lied there until it went off again. By then, I felt around for the off switch and sat up, stretching. I wondered why I had thought running was a good idea. I wasn't a morning person, though I usually would run off of less than six hours of sleep.

Ignoring all memories of my sleep habits in the United States, I sluggishly got up and went to the bathroom, brushing my teeth. I passed Hisao on the way back and gave him a drowsy greeting. Back in my room, I sat on the edge of my bed and stared out the window. The grass was likely dewy, as it is in the spring. I hated that, even though we'd be on the track. Lethargically, I made my way to my closet, putting on the running clothes from the previous day. I really needed to find out where laundry was done.

After I slowly pulled the shirt and shorts on, I slipped on my sneakers, stumbling a bit. I flopped back on my bed. After lying there for a few minutes, I reluctantly got up and took my medicine. I swiped a deodorant stick under my armpits and walked out into the hallway. Hisao just left the bathroom.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I grumbled.

"Think Emi's going to be there?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, scratching my scalp. "She seems like she's there often."

We walked out of the dorms in relative silence.

"What was the deal yesterday?" Hisao asked when we were out on the grounds.

"What do you mean?"

"With Hanako."

"Oh. She wanted to find Lilly, so we looked for her. She was in her classroom."

"Oh, well how'd that go?"

"Fine. We helped paint a banner or something. Something about noodles." I paused. "Guess who else was there?"

"Who?"

"Kenji."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. Apparently, he thought I was infiltrating a group of feminists and he claimed he was doing the same. As far as I know, Hanako and Lilly aren't feminists." Hisao just laughed. "So what about you? Where'd you go?"

"I went back to the dorms and saw Rin painting, so I decided to help her."

"How kind of you."

"Yeah. That girl's confusing though."

"How so?"

"For one, she called Hanako 'Mystery Toilet Girl.'" I gave him a weird look. "Don't ask, she couldn't even explain, other than Hanako went to the bathroom five times during one recess. Then, when I first saw her, she didn't acknowledge my presence for fifteen minutes. When I poked her, she looked at my crotch and knew it was me!"

I busted out laughing at that. She identified him by his crotch? Classic.

Hisao continued. "She started talking about a blind boy in the art club. She said he was interesting because he is blind and paints, and she tried mimicking him once."

"Wonder how that went," I commented.

"According to her, unpleasant. I don't think I need to elaborate more."

"No, no you don't," I said with a laugh. Rin sounded confusing, but it was still a little funny.

Our conversation carried us all the way to the track, our walking speed rather brisk. Once at the track, it was clear that Emi was once again there.

"When the hell does she come down here?" Hisao asked aloud.

"Pretty early, I guess," I replied.

Emi ran up to us. "Oh, it's you guys!" She smiled. "I'm surprised to see the both of you again!"

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, not many people actually manage to come back for a second try," she explained. She unexpectedly frowned. "Like the rest of the track team, for instance. Still, it was only supposed to be on a volunteer basis, so it's not that big of a shock. And I guess it's pretty early in the morning..." she shrugged, apparently forgetting what she was complaining about. She smiled again. "So! Come on, then!"

"What?" Hisao asked.

"You guys are here to run again, right?" Emi asked. We nodded. "So come on!" She literally grabbed both of us and pulled us onto the track.

Just like the day before, Hisao was bringing up the rear, struggling. We all managed to make it on a second lap together, but I could tell Hisao was upset that he was the slowest. Emi got bored of running slowly, so she quickly pulled forward. I got tired of jogging, too, so I did the same. Hisao was at the point he gave up yesterday, but as I glanced back, I saw him break into a sprint. I wasn't far behind Emi, but Hisao was quickly gaining.

Emi looked over her shoulder at Hisao and grinned. "Still going?"

He struggled to reply mid-run. "Wouldn't... want you... to think I'm outta shape..." he panted.

Emi laughed, not faltering once, and sped up. _Jesus, now it's a race?!_ I angrily thought. I wasn't going to push myself, the side cramps from my incorrect breathing hurt enough. Hisao, however, thought it was a bright idea to speed up as well. He kept going, nearly passing me, when he stumbled, one hand clutching his chest, the other hitting the track to prevent a face plant.

Mid-run, I tried to safely stop to turn. In the middle of doing so, Emi sprinted past me from across the field.

"Hisao!" she cried. I managed to turn and sprinted back as well. "What's wrong?" the running girl asked, concerned.

"Nngh- nothing, just..." he choked out.

"Do you need me to get the nurse?" Emi desperately asked.

Hisao closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, slowing to calm breaths. When he opened his eyes, he was met by an extremely concerned Emi and me.

"I think I'm fine," he said.

"My ass," I said in English.

"I don't think you are," Emi agreed, though I doubted she knew what I said. She thought then nodded decisively. "Right. You're coming with us. You've got to see the nurse."

Emi and I both lifted the stubborn Hisao to his feet. Emi offered him a shoulder, but he stubbornly refused. We walked him to the nurse's office nonetheless.

"Nurse!" Emi called when we entered the office. Actually, she barreled in, but the nurse didn't care.

The nurse greeted Emi from his desk. "Good morning, sunshine. What's up?"

_Sunshine?_ _What?_ He sipped some coffee, but set it down once he noticed Hisao and me, still in the doorway.

The nurse cocked an eyebrow. "Hisao? Adolf? What brings you two here?"

"Actually, it's more him," I said to the nurse, backing away from Hisao. Emi, however, started to have a fit.

"We were running and he stumbled over and started grabbing at his chest and I thought I'd come get you and make him wait there but he said he was okay but then I thought you should see him anyway and-"

"Easy there, Emi. Calm down," the nurse said. "Hisao, what happened?"

"I don't know. We were running, and then my chest started hurting like that time before, but it went away after a few seconds. It was just a flutter or something."

The nurse frowned at 'just a flutter.' "I didn't mean quite this when I suggested to get some exercise. You've got to be more careful, Hisao."

"I was being careful, I just..." he trailed off, realizing he was being an idiot.

"You just what?" the nurse asked.

Hisao struggled to reply, so I did. "He got into a race with Emi."

The nurse looked at Emi. "Emi, is this true?"

Emi started to fidget, looking a bit cute. I glanced at Hisao and saw a faint smile on his lips. _He has a thing for this girl, I swear,_ I thought.

"Um, well..." she struggled. She couldn't talk, so she just nodded nervously.

The nurse sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Emi, you've got to be more sensitive to the limits of others! I don't know if either of them told you, but they have bad hearts, and getting either of them to race you was incredibly irresponsible."

"Er, actually," Hisao interrupted. "I started it."

The nurse was shocked. "You WHAT?"

"We were just running, and Emi and Adolf started pulling away, so I uh, sped up to catch them," Hisao said.

The nurse stared at the ceiling, muttering something. He then turned back to us. "So you're **all **stupid. That's a comfort, I guess." I didn't see how I was stupid, but I didn't say anything. "Are you fine, Adolf?"

"Yeah," I said.

He nodded. "Okay, now come on, Hisao. I've got to make sure your heart's not going to explode or something." He led Hisao to an adjacent room, leaving me and Emi in the main office. Emi seemed miserable. I wanted to be nice and cheer her up, but I didn't know her well enough to do so.

A couple seconds later, the nurse returned and started yelling at Emi. I was spared the yelling because I didn't instigate Hisao to start sprinting. It still wasn't pleasant to hear. When he was done, the nurse looked at me and apologized.

Emi and I both walked into the room where Hisao was.

"Hey, Hisao," I said. "I need to get to class. If anyone asks, do you want me to let them know you're down here?"

He considered his options, before sighing. "Yeah, they'll find out anyway."

"Alright, I'll see you later, man. Hope you feel better." I started to exit. "Bye Emi." She said goodbye to me as well.

As I left, I saw Emi start talking to Hisao, but I had to get showered and changed. I made my way back to the dorms and peeled off the sweaty clothes, making my way to the bathroom in a fresh pair of boxers. After taking a refreshing fifteen minute shower, I headed back to my room to get dressed. After I got dressed, I slipped out into the hallway with my bag.

I was greeted by Kenji stealthily trying to enter his room with a rather larger bag. He sneaked right in front of me, trying to be Agent 47 or something.

"Hey," I said, compromising his position.

He jumped. "Oh, hey man. I didn't notice you there. I'm really tired." _Says the legally blind man,_ I thought.

"What were you doing this early? Shopping?" Shopping was a reasonable guess, given the large bag.

"Nah, I wasn't shopping. Sometimes I have to visit..." He thought for a moment. "The math teacher. Yeah, I figured it would be a good idea to find out when the next exam is, since he tells you in advance if you want."

"What about the bag? What's in it?"

"I thought I'd go shopping while I was outside. I need supplies to continue the fight against the vast feminist conspiracy."

"I thought you didn't go outside," I said, deciding against mentioning that he just said he wasn't shopping.

"I wear a hat now," Kenji responded. For the record, he was hatless. Silence settled in, broken only by the creaking of Kenji's door being opened. He set the bag inside of his room and closed the door.

"Why'd you go out of your way to find out the test date? You wanted to study?" I asked.

"I never study," Kenji said.

"Neither do I."

"I just wanted to know when the next test day was. I'm still going to take it, duh. I need to know so I know what day I can't afford to skip class. He usually sends out updates on that crap by phone, so I had to step out and check up on it."

"Why not just get it on your phone?"

"I don't carry a phone."

"What? Do you just leave it here?"

"Nah, I just don't use phones. I don't have a phone. Phones. I have no phone."

"What? Why?"

He grimaced. "I just don't like phones. Actually, I'm kind of scared of them. I don't know why. I think it's some kind of repressed trauma. But, basically, when I hear a phone, I get nervous. It's my darkest secret. I have two theories on it: either I have some fear of receiving some undefined, ominous, life-altering doom call, or I was beaten with a phone in the past. Beaten so badly I can't remember it."

"Beaten in the head," I stated.

"Well, where else would I get beaten with a phone that would make me unable to remember it? The ass?"

I wanted to laugh, but stifled it. Kenji reopened his door.

"Yeah, I'm going to sleep, dude. Have a good one," he said.

"But, class is in twenty minutes," I said.

Kenji shrugged. "I already did something today. Too tired to go to school." He leaned close to me. "Hey, you need some lip balm? I accidentally bought two because I thought the store had started selling individual double-A batteries."

"I'm good, thanks."

Kenji scowled. "Whatever, man." He disappeared into his room.

My stomach growled as I went to homeroom. I hadn't eaten dinner for several days, and yesterday I survived on lunch alone. I had a few minutes, so I swung by the cafeteria and grabbed something I could eat on the go at random. It was a piece of breakfast pizza.

When I got to homeroom, I was shocked to see that it wasn't empty for once. The entire class was there. When Mutou walked in, I got his attention.

"What is it, Riese?" he asked.

"Uh, Hisao's down at the nurse's office," I said. "Just thought I'd let you know."

He seemed as though he was going to question why Hisao was down there, but relented. I took my seat and waited for the lecture to start. I still hadn't communicated with many people in my class, but I assumed I would by later in the year. The class moved on at a boring pace.

At about a quarter 'til eleven, Hisao walked into the class, giving Mutou a note. Mutou read it, and nodded. Hisao quickly took his seat and caught up. Mutou finished his electricity lecture prematurely, but continued talking about the festival without missing a beat.

"So, as you know, the festival is on the day after tomorrow. I hope everyone's projects are going to be successful this year. Have a good time, but also come Sunday, please keep the meaning of this festival in your minds..."

"Games and fried food!" Misha interjected. This caused the class to start laughing. I chuckled. The reason I didn't laugh harder was because I had no idea what the festival was about. Games and fried food just made it seem like a county fair in America.

Mutou wasn't pleased with Misha's outburst. "Yes, thank you Mikado. But what I meant was more the-" His sentence was drowned out by the lunch bell. He gave up and sat down.

Walking out into the hallway with Hisao, we were greeted by a crowd of people. I was about to join the flow when Hisao started to work his way against the grain.

"Hey!" I called after Hisao. He turned towards me. "Where are you going?"

"Roof," was all he said, eventually taking shelter in a classroom door.

My stomach growled, preempting any further attempts to question him. Instead, I just threw up a hand, as if to say "See ya later!" Joining the torrent, I made my way to the cafeteria. Upon reaching the cafeteria, my lunch was larger than usual. I managed to get some General Tso's chicken and pizza, much to my pleasure.

I enjoyed the food filling my gut. _If only there was a buffet full of pizza and General Tso's chicken,_ I daydreamed. Actually, Chinese buffets usually had both. I savored the food, wondering if I could get more. I doubted it, and when I had finished my delectable meal, I headed back to class.

In the classroom, I sat in my seat and stretched. It would've been smarter to stretch before sitting, but it still felt good. When the end-of-lunch bell sounded again a few minutes later, my classmates trickled back in. Hanako came in through the back, as usual. When Hisao sat down, I posed a question to him.

"So why were you on the roof?" I asked.

"Emi invited me to lunch with her as an apology for this morning," he replied.

"Oh, I see."

We dropped our conversation when Mutou walked back in started to lecture more. The afternoon classes passed, me learning more crap I already knew. Basically just relearning it, just in a different language. Nothing to do when the bell rang, I headed to the library. I finished a couple books during down time in class over the past couple of days, so having them was pointless. Plus, there was a Stephen King book I had already read, so I wasn't keen on re-reading it.

Hisao must've had a similar predicament, because he tagged along. "Hey! Wait up!" he called as I walked out of class.

"What?" I said as I turned around.

"You going to the library?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Mind if I tag along?"

I didn't mind, so we trekked to the library. Upon entering, I noticed that not many people were there, similar to Tuesday. Hisao walked over to the counter, dropping his books into the return slot. I went to do the same, but Yuuko popped up, visibly startled from the books banging into trolley next to her.

"Ah, sorry Yuuko," Hisao apologized as I slid my books into the slot. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"No, no. That's fine. It happens... a lot," Yuuko said. "I'm used to it by now. Um, can I help you?"

We both said it was fine, since we seemed to know how to navigate the library. We split up, looking for more books. I strolled to the back of the library, scanning for English titles. My wandering eyes kick in, and I look where Hanako was the last time. She was there, not exactly to my surprise, completely into another book, this one kind of bulky. Rather than interrupt her, I continued browsing.

Hisao and I spent a good bit of time searching for adequate reading material. His pile was much larger than mine. I managed to find English copies of "The Great Gatsby" and "1984" in the library, the only two books I had. Hisao had quite a stack, though.

I checked my books out first, having only two. Hisao checked out his books, and I wanted to talk to Hanako, but forced myself not to attempt to. I had a feeling I'd horribly screw up something. We walked out of the building, mainly silent. He asked what books I had, so I told him. He never read them, just like me. The sun was starting to set, small groups of students still lingering outside.

I sighed. "I should probably buy some food," I said.

"Why?" Hisao asked.

"Because, no matter where you go, you can't survive off of cafeteria food."

"Good point. I'm just going to go back to the dorms," he said with a yawn.

"I'll go with you," I said. I had to get my wallet anyhow.

We set off for the dormitories. Once we reached our rooms, I told Hisao I'd see him later. I ducked into my room to drop off my books and grab my wallet. Upon leaving, I was greeted by Kenji.

"Jesus!" I said in English. "You scared me Kenji!" I added in Japanese.

"Sorry dude," he replied. "You going somewhere?"

"Yeah," I said. "Going to get some supplies."

He grinned. "Good man, taking the fight into your own hands. I'll see you around." He quickly slipped into his room. The unnaturally short conversation with Kenji made me uneasy. Our previous conversations weren't as short. Nowhere near as short.

Shaking off the uneasiness, I headed back to the gates. At least I didn't have to deal with Kenji. I just exited the gates when I saw a lone blonde making her way towards the town. Curious as to what Lilly was doing, I sped up my walking speed to catch up, something her honed hearing caught.

"Hello there, Lilly," I said, greeting the blind blonde. She didn't say anything at first, likely racking her brain to recognize my voice.

"Adolf?" she finally asked aloud.

"That's me." Being blind, I assumed that remembering voices was something she had to do, since faces were out of the question.

"Good evening. What brings you here?" Lilly asked, politely bowing. She was too polite.

"Going to get some food and such. What about you?"

"My my, what a coincidence."

"The same, huh?"

"Mm. I usually go shopping on Fridays." She paused. "That said, Hanako usually comes into town with me..." She sounded worried that Hanako wasn't there. I wasn't surprised. They seemed pretty tight-knit.

"I saw her in the library, reading," I said. "She probably got into it."

Lilly sighed in relief. "Thank you. She has a habit of doing that."

"I guess she's a bookworm?"

"Right. She doesn't like being around crowds of people, so reading away from everyone lets her relax a bit."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"What do you mean?"

I should have shut up. "When I first met her, she was really into a book."

"Mmm," Lilly acknowledged.

We continued down the road in relative silence. The road was devoid of cars. The only things really breaking the silence were the sound of Lilly's cane and the leaves being rustled. It was quite relaxing, to the point I yawned loudly. It was purely unintentional.

"Tired?" Lilly asked, a smile on her face.

"Yeah. It's so much different than back home. It's much more fast paced and tiring," I said. I must have said that several times already.

"Well, hopefully everything should settle down for you. The festival's got everyone in a spin right now, and you've been plopped right in the middle of things."

Lilly seemed cool enough to talk to and quite understanding. "Hopefully it does. Like I've said so many times, it's so different than schools back home and I can't get used to it. I've never been to a school like this, never had to wear uniforms or anything." I sighed, not sure where I was going. "Time will tell, I guess."

Lilly gave me a pleased nod, seemingly ushering me to her herd of students. It was nice, having someone care like that.

"Looking on the bright side, one could see it as a chance for a new beginning. You should cherish the ability to make new friends," she said. "Especially in a different nation."

"That's good advice," I said.

We entered the town after an extended period of silence. Lilly seemed slightly concerned, but she composed herself and spoke.

"So, where in town were you going?" she asked.

_Good question,_ I thought. I wanted to get food, but I had no idea where the grocery store was. Maybe asking would have been a good idea before I left. It made me feel bad, asking a blind girl for directions, but I had to.

"I was going to the grocery store, which," I nervously laughed, "I have no clue where it is."

"Well now," Lilly chuckled. "This is quite lucky. I was just about to go to the convenience store myself."

"I'll just follow your lead then."

I followed Lilly as she made her way through the town. As much as I want to say she did it blindly, that would be insulting and rude, as well as untrue. She seemed to know her way around fairly well, because after a few short minutes, we stood in front of our destination: a small convenience store. Outside of the store hung a couple signs. One was in Japanese, but the other was in English. The English one read "Aura Mart." Not wasting time, Lilly and I entered, the cashier greeting us.

"Mind if I tag along with you?" Lilly abruptly asked. "Usually Hanako would help me, but seeing as she's not here..."

"I don't mind," I said. She wouldn't have been able to read the labels, obviously.

Since the convenience store wasn't that big, there were no shopping carts. Instead, there were shopping baskets, things I rarely used. Since they were the only things there, I picked two up from the entrance, handing one to Lilly. She laid it on the ground, putting her schoolbag inside and sliding her retracted cane through the handles. She then picked it back up with her right hand.

By then, I realized she wasn't going to use her cane to navigate. She was going to use me. Sure enough, she did, grabbing hold of my right arm with her left hand.

"Is this all right?" Lilly asked me.

"Ah, ah." I stammered. "Ah, yeah, it's fine."

Never had a girl grabbed hold of me like Lilly did, even if it was simply to help her shop. It was slightly awkward to me and it would definitely be awkward to others. Pretty blonde girl locking arms with an average foreign boy. No matter the cause, it still seemed weird.

As we navigated the store, no one seemed to find the situation strange, contrary to my thoughts. Maybe they recognized Lilly, considering she said Hanako and her would go there every Friday, and knew she was blind.

We made our way through the store, me asking Lilly what she needs before putting her requested items in her basket. I grabbed what I wanted on the way. It seemed rehearsed for her, probably because Hanako and her shopped at the store every Friday.

I checked my inventory, noting that I needed bread for sandwiches, as well as Nutella. I let Lilly know, asking if she needed anything else.

"No," she said. "This should be everything."

After a quick escapade to get a couple loaves of bread and another for Nutella, we headed to the registers. Lines small, our items were purchased without much delay, and we left the store. I had obtained some junk food, soda, bread, Nutella, Ramen noodles, several pudding packets, milk, and cereal among other nondescript items.

Lilly retrieved her cane, extending it. I was holding all of our bags, but after a quick stretch, she took her lone bag.

"Tired?" I asked.

"The festival preparations have been complete chaos," Lilly replied, sighing. "Shizune breathing down my neck doesn't exactly help things, either."

"Well, she's trying to be organized," I said. "I guess it's better not to postpone it."

"I suppose," Lilly said. "I'm going to enjoy relaxing in town tomorrow, that's for certain."

I almost forgot that class was still held on Saturdays in Japan, even if it was only half of a normal day. Walking onto the street, I couldn't help but feel bad for both Shizune and Lilly. All that responsibility, especially Shizune's, must have been unbearable. I knew I wouldn't have been able to handle it.

As we walked down the street, Lilly and I talked, mostly just smalltalk about how our day was and such. Luckily for me, I had been practicing my Japanese whenever we had free time in class, along with reading those books. As such, it was easier to communicate, not only because of her easy-to-understand speech, but because of my improving Japanese lexicon.

I noticed a shadowy figure approaching us as we walked. It looked like a boy without arms, but I recognized the figure as it got closer. Rin Tezuka was strolling aimlessly down the street.

"What are you doing here, Rin?" I asked. I then realized that what I said made it seem like she had no business being there.

"Rin?" Lilly asked, probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

"Um, it's Rin Tezuka, from school," I said, letting her know Rin was present.

"Ah, I understand," Lilly said, though her lips contorted to a really odd mixture of smiling and cringing when I said Rin was there. _They must be acquainted with each other,_ I thought.

Rin, however, looked like she was completely zoned out when she looked at me and Lilly. I wasn't sure if she was aware that she was in the presence of others, let alone if she recognized either of us. Her face was completely blank, but it gradually gained emotion. She had to acknowledge the other people in her presence. She blinked once in such a way that it seemed like she practiced it for days.

"Hello," Rin said, her voice a mixture of dreariness and indifference. An awkward silence followed her equally awkward greeting.

"So, what are you doing in town?" I asked.

Rin was quiet for a few seconds. "I..." Rin started. "I was wondering about that myself too. Just now. Some people asked that just before. I assume they were wondering the same." She paused. "I didn't know. They didn't know either. I asked. That's why I'm wondering. So that was pretty much it. It's a murder mystery without a murder." She turned to point down the road with her shoulder. "They were going that way."

I really didn't care about the people that also asked her about what she was doing, but I kept my mouth shut. Rin used too many words when she could use only a few. I imagined a scene just then about Rin's wordiness.

"_Hi Rin, how are you?"_

"_I'm unsure. I woke up feeling something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I guess it was like feeling good, but bad, but neither. So somewhere in between."_

That thought even confused me, just like Rin did when she spoke. I didn't speak whenever she pointed out the others' direction, uncertain if she was done talking. Lilly did the same, possibly out of a shared interest that Rin didn't continue.

Rin was unfazed by our mutual failure to react, staring at us expectantly instead. She seemed extremely laid back.

"Do you have amnesia?" Lilly finally asked. "I don't recall you having anything of the sort, though..."

"I doubt that," I said to Lilly. "The other people probably noticed how lost she was. Seriously though, Rin, you look like you're on a different planet the way you're standing there."

"Oh," the auburn-haired girl said. "I see. Maybe I should've taken some other kind of pose in that case."

I doubted that would have helped. Rin standing in the street with a wide grin was unsettling and equally unlikely. I noticed that Rin was rather scatterbrained during my few interactions with her. Talking to her had an effect that even if you succeeded, you failed. It was kind of like what Kenji said about winning and losing, but I didn't compare the two.

"Anyway," I said. "You have no clue why you're here?"

Rin frowned for some reason. "I do have... some idea. I can't really decide what kind of an idea."

My descent into madness was halted by Lilly. "That sounds like progress, at least." She metaphorically saw a chance to turn the conversation around, and she took it.

"Yes, there is some. Definitely. The rest will come later," Rin said. "I'm sure of it. I always have... reasons."

Lilly's efforts were in vain, since silence fell shortly after. I wanted to go back to the school, but leaving Rin wouldn't have been too bright of an idea. Lilly wasn't helping, unfortunately, so I decided to take my chances, trying to take Rin, too.

"So, you were definitely going someplace. You know where?" I asked.

Rin jumped back in shock at my question. "Are you a mind reader? Is that your disability? How unique!" she exclaimed.

"What? What would make you think that?" I asked, resisting the urge to say I was a psychic spy, as Kenji assumed Hisao and I were when we met.

Rin cocked an eyebrow at me. "You knew what I was doing," she said, accusingly.

"Uh... It isn't hard to figure out you were going somewhere," I said.

"Oh." Rin seemed disappointed. The thought that she would get along with Kenji crossed my mind. They both jumped to irrational conclusions, confused me, and thought I was psychic in some way. I considered asking Rin if she knew Kenji, but Lilly preempted any attempt to do so.

"Maybe you should come with us back to the school?" Lilly asked, her face showing poorly disguised concern.

"Lilly has a point. Why stay here if you can't remember why you came?" I said.

"Okay," the armless artist said after a brief consideration.

The three of us began our trek back to the school, trying to waste no more time. Rin walked rather awkwardly and Lilly kept a hand on my shoulder for guidance. Silence loomed around our little trio, broken only by failed conversations. The silence was dissimilar from the one that loitered when Lilly and I descended into town.

The walking started to take a toll on me as we neared the school. The hill wasn't gently sloped. My side started cramping up, similar to when I ran. It wasn't going to be long before it worsened. When the gates came into view, Lilly's grip on my shoulder tightened. _Maybe she wants to say something,_ I thought.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

She deliberated for a moment. "Is everything... all right?"

"What do you mean?"

Apparently my answer wasn't what she prepared for. "It's just... you seem unusually tired, I guess," she said after gathering herself.

I knew what she meant then. I hadn't noticed that I was breathing heavy, most of my focus in the increasing pain in my side. I decided to put her mind at ease.

"I'm fine, just need to take a break," I said. "My condition isn't like it once was." The accident made sure of that.

"Oh," Lilly sounded. "Is it something that... is related to you being transferred here? I mean..." She stopped abruptly. I didn't see why. She may have felt like she was invading my privacy.

"Yeah, it is," I replied.

Lilly's gaze became more apologetic. "Hanako said you look fairly... healthy, so I naturally thought..." She trailed off again, sounding concerned when she did.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to ease her discomfort. I had no qualms telling someone about why I was sent to the school. At least I thought it was the reason. "I just have a minor arrhythmia." I then briefly mentioned to her about the car accident and my hospital stay. What I said, no matter how little, only made her more uncomfortable, it seemed.

"Don't worry about it," I said to Lilly, reassuring her I'd be fine. She gave me a smile, but we continued in silence.

Rin was completely silent for most of the walk up. Upon arriving at the dorms, Rin stopped in front of the mural she was painting. I could see where she got work done thanks to Hisao.

"Is today Friday?" Rin asked,

"Yes," Lilly replied. "Friday, the eighth of June."

"This is bad." Rin grimaced.

"Bad? Why?" Lilly looked concerned,

"I think I am going to go in a fetal position and throw up. Possibly in reverse order." _Weird._

"Is something wrong?" Lilly was still concerned.

"No," Rin quickly answered. "Nothing is wrong. It's Friday and nothing is wrong yet. This mural, it's going to need to be finished by Sunday. So everything's all right." Clearly, she was worried, too. "Do you have any drugs? Or a time machine? This is not good. Not good." I wanted to ask if she was _on_ drugs.

Rin seemed quite worried, however. She was somewhat behind, though Hisao helped her out.

"Leave me," she ordered. "I'm going to need to work for a while." After I glanced at Lilly, Rin repeated that we leave.

So, we did so. I was slightly concerned myself.

"You think she'll need help?" I asked when we walked away.

"I'm sure she will be just fine," Lilly said. "She's just a bit..." she struggled to think of an adjective.

"Unique?" I said, helping her out.

Lilly nodded. "Yes, a very unique person."

"You got that right."

Lilly giggled. "Sorry about leaving you stranded as you talked to her. I... don't really understand her, so I keep my distance."

_Figured as much,_ I thought. Nonetheless, Lilly smiled in apology before letting out a long yawn.

"I'd better leave now and give these to Hanako." She smiled. "I appreciate your company, Adolf."

"Good night, Lilly. Tell Hanako I said hello," I said, relaxed.

"I will. Good night." Lilly then walked to the girls dorm.

I walked back to my room and kicked off my shoes. They landed sloppily next to the bed. I unpacked the groceries, years of helping my aunt making me a pro. Done with that, I grabbed a can of Coca-Cola from my recent purchases. I slid out of my school clothes and slipped into pajamas. I popped the top of the can and checked the time.

**9:30 P.M.**, the clock read.

Glad that I had some time to relax, I sat down and grabbed my Xbox controller, turning the console on. Going to the system settings, I changed my locale to Japan and went to the network settings. The Xbox successfully connected to the Wi-Fi, which surprised me, given it was a campus-wide Wi-Fi signal. It was quite a powerful connection.

Signing into Xbox LIVE, I opened the disc tray and put in _Grand Theft Auto IV_. I was going to have an enjoyable night.

**AN: As I got further into the VN again, I realized Act I takes place in June, so I made the necessary changes. When the actual school year started is unknown to me still. Nonetheless, this chapter is a little shorter.**


	7. Doyōbi

Chapter Seven: Doyōbi

After a long night of stealing cars, killing hookers, getting into large scale firefights, and being an all around badass in Liberty City, I drifted off to sleep. I woke up the next morning feeling extremely good. Maybe it was because I wasn't asked to go bowling. Despite me staying up late, I woke up only a few hours later. Running off of a couple hours of sleep was nothing new to me, so I kicked into gear.

I quickly slipped into the bathrooms, turning the shower on and scrubbing myself clean. I felt refreshed upon exiting the shower, like a new man. Maybe that's a bit far, but I still felt good.

"Today's gonna be a great day," I said to myself in my native tongue.

I dried off, slipping my boxers on. While brushing my teeth, I couldn't help but look myself over in the mirror. Stupidly, I starting posing in the mirror, making myself seem sexy. I started to laugh at myself. Failing to care, I kept posing, feeling attractive.

"What are you doing?" a voice rang out, making me jump out of my skin.

I swore loudly in English. "Who's there?" I asked, looking around before seeing the source of the voice.

Hisao stood in the doorway, a smirk on his face. "Enjoying yourself?"

"How long were you watching?"

"A couple of minutes," he replied, chuckling. He walked towards me.

"You going to take a shower?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, before shooting a glance at my naked back. "Holy crap, what happened to you?"

"I was in a car accident," I said.

"Yeah, I know that." I never recalled telling him, but maybe he understood the nurse's English.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad. I barely survived." I didn't want to mention my sister's death, no matter how much I thought I was over it.

"What happened?"

"That caused it? I don't really remember." I wasn't lying. I suffered memory loss of the incident. Therefore, my only knowledge of the incident from what I was told.

Hisao didn't press any further, instead ushering me out so he could shower. I complied, going back to my room and downing my pills. I looked over what I had to eat for breakfast. Unsure what to eat, I sat down on my bed. I had a couple hours before class, and running wasn't on the top of my agenda. The cafeteria likely wouldn't start serving until seven-thirty. I sighed and flopped on my back.

I wasn't sure of what to do. Completely at a loss. Suddenly tired, I got up and grabbed the carton of iced coffee I had bought, along with a plastic cup. Filling the cup, I sat at the desk, grabbing my Japanese book. I needed to know the language even better, so it seemed like the best option, however tired I just became.

After an hour of exhausting self-teaching, I leaned back, stretching and rubbing my eyes. I was proud of my rapidly expanding repertoire of Japanese. Standing up, I took the empty cup of iced coffee and refilled it, downing the liquid before trashing the cup. I slipped into a uniform and sat back down, bored. Again.

Sighing, I picked up the Xbox controller and powered the console on. I had half an hour until the cafeteria likely started serving, so I decided to kill the time by playing _Call of Duty: Black Ops II_. I hadn't played that much _Call of Duty_ in the months following the accident, mainly because I had no time, but I knew how much time it could kill.

Two games of Domination and two games of Kill Confirmed later, I turned off the Xbox and headed to the cafeteria. I had actually wasted forty-five minutes, not the thirty I wanted to, but there was still plenty of time.

I was half-way across the gardens when Hisao ran up to me. "You getting breakfast?" he asked, taking a breath.

I nodded. "Why are you breathing so hard?"

"Decided to take a quick jog around the track after I showered," he replied, panting slightly.

"Was Emi there?" I asked.

Hisao shook his head, much to my surprise. I beckoned him to follow me to the cafeteria, and when we arrived, we were surrounded by people.

"Since when did people actually eat breakfast?" I asked aloud. Hisao shrugged.

We took our place in the serving line, getting served five minutes later. I wound up with a plastic bowl of cereal, toast, and sausage. We took the nearest table, occupied by a five-person group on one end. Sitting down, I yawned.

"Didn't sleep well?" Hisao asked.

"No, I slept fine. Just not enough," I replied.

"When did you go to sleep?"

I racked my brain for an estimate. "About... one-thirty?"

"My god man," was all Hisao had to say.

We ate in relative silence. Being in silence seemed to be a normal thing at Yamaku, so I never questioned why anyone was silent. Plus, it was hard to understand Japanese with your mouth full. After I finished eating, I disposed of my eating utensils and walked back to the table, where Hisao was finishing up.

"You're a slow eater," I said.

"I like to savor the food," he replied, following a strenuous swallow.

I laughed. "Yeah, sure."

Once he finished, we left for homeroom. Unlike previous days, we were only ten minutes early, our breakfast being unusually long. The room had a couple occupants, no one that I knew. I could remember their faces, but not names, likely because I never really spoke to them.

People trickled in as usual, but their faces looked worn. I wondered why before remembering the festival. I still couldn't get my head around why the festival was so important, something that annoyed me.

While I waited for class to start, I continued brushing up on Japanese. Mid-way through a short vocabulary exercise, Mutou stumbled in the room, looking beat. He didn't start lecturing, however, instead opting to silently scribble page and question numbers on the board. After that, he plopped in his chair.

Silent as well, the rest of the class got started. Sighing, I slid the Japanese book into my bag and retrieved the history book, ready to get started, no matter how reluctant I was. The Student Council didn't show up and I was actually disappointed. The silence was killing me.

Engrossed in my work, I barely noticed Mutou approaching Hisao's desk. "Nakai, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Hisao must have been caught off-guard, too. He hesitated before speaking. "Sure... What's this about?"

"It's probably better if we speak outside the classroom..."

Mutou led Hisao out of the classroom as they started to discuss something. I couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. I pushed off the thoughts, trying to finish the task at hand, when the door opened. A couple students jumped simply because they were slacking. Mutou never reentered the room. Hisao did, and when he got to his seat, he whispered to me that Mutou wanted me. Swearing under my breath, I stood and walked out into the hall.

In the hallway, Mutou shut the door, scratching his head. After a pause, he spoke. "So, tell me, how are things?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Better yet, how's it going?" I raised an eyebrow. "You've had a week to adjust, so how is everything?"

_Disregarding the fact that the doctor at Pittsburgh lied and I was much further behind than a week, fine,_ I thought. "Everything's okay," I replied, leaving the cardiologist out of it. "I still need to adjust and learn more Japanese, but beyond that..." I shrugged.

"I see," Mutou said. "And your condition?"

"Which part of it?"

"The arrhythmia."

I shrugged again. "Nothing bad so far." Relief briefly washed over Mutou's face._ Maybe he wrung out Hisao after his incident yesterday,_ I thought.

"Good, that's good," Mutou said. "The nurse just asked me to keep an eye on you when he was unable."

"Good thinking."

He seemed to want to berate me, but he let it slide. "Next question. How are your studies? I know you were in the hospital for a while and didn't exactly finish eleventh grade, but we're not that far ahead, are we?"

I resisted the urge to say anything snide, no matter how true it would have been. I was a month or so behind, but I knew the material pretty well.

"No," I said. "You're not too far. I actually know the science material pretty well."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, I was in my old school's gifted program."

"Interesting." He pondered some more. "Well then, I think that's all I really had to say. Let's head back inside, shall we?" I nodded and we headed back in. Upon reentry, the same students who jumped before did so again. Taking my seat, I saw Mutou reach into his desk and grab a scientific journal of some sorts. I had no idea why.

The room's atmosphere was one full of anticipation, everyone eager to finish something for the festival or take a nap. I stopped working as I finished half of the assignment. I grabbed my Japanese book and started teaching myself again.

The rest of the school day, which wasn't long anyhow, quickly passed, the bells being a salvation from torment to some. As everyone was rising to disembark, Mutou spoke up.

"Before you all leave, I expect the answers for those problems by Monday," he said, obviously dismaying most of the students. I hated homework and likely wouldn't do it, so I stuck around and finished after class.

There were only two other people in the classroom: Hisao and Hanako. Hanako wasn't working, so I assumed that she was waiting for Lilly, but Hisao was working. None of us talk the entire time, silence consuming the room whole. I didn't expect Hanako to talk, given the way she was and how she didn't really speak to Hisao, but I expected Hisao to say something.

After about fifteen minutes of work, or page turning in Hanako's case, Hisao's pencil broke. He sighed loudly and fumbled around for a sharpener. Glancing at Hanako, I saw her gaze harden, though it was firmly planted on the book. I silently chuckled at Hisao's misfortune and kept working. The minutes passed quickly, Lilly eventually showing up.

"Hanako?" was all Lilly said. Like a rabbit, Hanako sprung up from her seat and ran beside her blind friend. The two shared a brief conversation, surprisingly inaudible given the emptiness of the room. Hanako walked back to her seat, visibly upset. I looked around mindlessly, noticing Hisao looking at Hanako out of the corner of his eye. Interested, I did the same.

Hanako sat in the chair with her hand planted underneath her chin, resenting the desk she was staring at with every fiber of her being. Unsurprisingly, she reached into her bag not too long after and grabbed a book. I took into account the shape of the book, which didn't match up to "Life of Pi" or the other one she was reading the day prior. I was considered a speed-reader, and given the way she barreled through books, she had to be one as well. Unless she just read all day, then she'd be just an avid reader.

I couldn't help but wonder what Lilly could possibly have been doing to leave Hanako in the dark like that. I had a feeling she mentioned something about plans she had in town, maybe relaxation or something. My eyes wandered to the window and I felt an urge I rarely felt: going outside. It was the worst feeling, simply because I usually had no clue what to do. Granted, were I back home, I could play street hockey or airsoft, but at Yamaku, I had nothing to do. Sure, I could run on the track, but running wasn't my forté.

Sighing, I got up and stretched. The thought of talking to Hanako briefly entered my mind, as did chilling with Kenji. The latter was quickly rejected by me, but the former wasn't. I looked around, only to discover myself being alone in the room. Both Hanako and Hisao left. I swore in frustration.

I thought about heading to town, but there was nothing to do. I thought about playing Xbox, but I would get bored easily with no one to talk to unless I started another save game on _Fallout _3 or _New Vegas_. My interest in reading had been rekindled, however, actually overtaking my Xbox Addiction.

The library became my target, not only because I felt like reading, but because I felt like talking to Hanako. Something inside me was willing me to talk to the shy girl, even if it discomforted her. My conscious likely hated me. Against my better judgment, I set off to the library.

I walked down the stairs and through the second floor. I guessed that each of the unmarked rooms either were spare or used for music, reason being every door had some kind of music blaring behind it. One of them seemed to contain a rock concert and I briefly entertained the idea of walking in.

I pressed on, the library in sight. I pushed through, able to faintly hear the music from the unmarked rooms. No sounds were native to the library, however, and neither were any souls. There seemed to be a multitude of outdoorsy people here. Either that or they had nothing better to do.

Yuuko was absent from the library, raising some questions in my head, but I sneaked back to Hanako's private corner. I slipped my hand in my bag and slipped out "The Great Gatsby," partially as a ruse to sit and talk. When Hanako came into view, I noticed that she had a fondness for a specific teal beanbag, the same one she sat in both times I encountered her in the library before.

She was reading slowly, either because she was relaxed or my assumption was correct about her not being a speed-reader. Learning from past mistakes, I swiftly, and stealthily, sat in a random beanbag. She wasn't startled, much to my pleasure, though I did catch her attention.

It seemed like I had to stalk Hanako like she was a deer. A part of me enjoyed the little game that was required, it testing my patience and ability to be cautious. It tested quite a bit of my abilities to not startle her, and I felt proud doing so.

Being as nonchalant as possible, I asked Hanako if she was reading the same book from class, which it obviously was.

"Y-yes..." she replied. "I'm almost finished." I contemplated the idea of asking to borrow it, but I couldn't read Japanese that well.

"Is it any good?" I asked instead.

"I-I think it is..." she paused. "D-Do you want to b-borrow it?" she asked, surprising me.

"No thanks," I politely said. "I can't read Japanese that well."

"Oh." Hanako sounded like she felt bad that I couldn't read it. I guess I sounded sad when I mentioned my near illiteracy in Japanese, which wasn't mistook on her part. I was a bit sad.

I leaned back in the beanbag I selected, opening the small book that was in English. I never read it before, nor did I start until then. There was a movie or something about it, and I thought the book would be a good read. Never found a copy until I got to Yamaku.

The silence, though normal with Hanako, still killed me, figuratively speaking. I mustered up the balls to start a conversation.

"So, Lilly left without you?" I asked, being Captain Obvious once more.

Hanako nodded, reluctantly averting her eyes from the book post-nod. "Lilly said she had to go and... meet someone..."

"Really?" I asked. It felt intrusive, but I was intrigued.

"A-Akira. Her sister..."

"Lilly has a sister?"

Hanako nodded. "She... she and Akira used to live together."

"Aren't all students in the dorms though?"

"T-they... I mean we... don't have to be."

I wasn't used to the dorm concept, so I continued asking questions. "Why wouldn't you though? Food's served, school's nearby, no buses you have to wake up extra early to catch..." She raised an eyebrow at the last thing. "It's something in the States. Regardless, I've never been to school so early and awake in my life." It was true. My bus was usually late to school anyway, and I got up early to shower, only to fall asleep in second period.

I made Hanako smile somehow. That smile made me feel like a millionaire. It was really nice spending time with her, so I wondered what she was doing Sunday.

"Hey Hanako," I said, getting her attention. My mouth was ahead of my brain. "Have anything planned for the festival?" Bad move, mouth.

Hanako's reaction nearly made me release my bowels. She was seemingly shocked. "S-sorry?" she uttered.

"I was just wondering what you were doing tomorrow. Are you doing anything?" I asked, trying to sound as sorry as possible.

Hanako's gaze softened. "I... I don't know." She didn't want to pursue the subject any further, it seemed.

"Alright, then," I said, thinking of how to change the subject. "Uh, what's Lilly's sister like?" Adolf's brain to the rescue!

Hanako seemed to ease up. "She... she's nice," she said. "She's pretty like Lilly, but she dresses... business-like..."

"What do you mean?"

"She... she's always wearing a suit..."

"Hmm," I pondered. "Does that make her less attractive?"

Hanako slightly smiled, shaking her head in slight embarrassment. "N-no... just... different."

My interest was piqued, hearing Hanako's opinions on others. I wanted to hear more, simply because it was interesting.

"Maybe you should introduce us someday," I said.

Hanako seemed fine with my proposal. "O-okay."

As is expected with a conversation with the shy girl, silence quickly returned from retreat. We resumed our scheduled reading, and while I resented the silence, I didn't know Hanako's boundaries enough to push more conversation. Nonetheless, it wasn't like it was that dreary and depressing silence. I was getting into "The Great Gatsby," the silence only disturbing the uninterested portions of my brain.

The time passed rather quickly and before long, though it was long, the sky turned orange. The music died down, probably due to the lateness or the fact that they wanted some grub. My stomach started to churn at the thought of food. How I hated being a teenager. I wanted to head back, but not leave Hanako hanging at the same time.

"Hanako, do you think Lilly's back yet?" I asked. She turned to me and gave me a look that said 'Why?' "I might go back to my dorm, get some sleep. Maybe something to eat."

"O-okay. I... I might stay here a little longer," she replied. She was almost finished with her book.

"Okay, then. I'll be off, then," I said. "See you around, Hanako."

"O-okay. See you, Adolf."

I started to walk out, waving, when she stopped me. "A-Adolf?"

I jumped a little at the way she said it, like I was in trouble. "Yeah?" I asked, spinning on one foot.

"T-thank you. F-for hanging out with me," she said, her smile so sweet. Despite the alluring smile, it was obvious how much difficulty she had saying that.

I stood there, dumbfounded at what she said. She caught me completely by surprise, and I couldn't help but feel like I made a new friend. I smiled, probably one of the best I ever smiled.

"You're welcome, Hanako," I said, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. "Good night."

"N-night," she said, her smile not faltering.

I left the library and strolled down the hall to the stairs. I felt intensely good. A part of me found it a little odd, however, that she considered that to be 'hanging out.' The other parts of my brain probably beat that part to a pulp, however, since the thought quickly disappeared.

I strolled down to the lobby, thinking if I should go to the cafeteria to get some food or just go to my dorm room.

I decided on the latter.

Strutting out of the school, I crossed the gardens to the dorms. In my view at the dorms were Hisao and Emi dropping paint near Rin's mural, which grew larger. The two parted ways and Hisao headed into the dorms. I wasn't able to catch up, so chances were, he was in his room by then.

In the dorms, I headed up to my room, pausing in front of Hisao's door. Curious as to what he and Emi were doing, I knocked.

"Who's there?" he said, muffled by the door.

"Adolf," I replied. God, my name was awkward.

He unlocked the door and opened it. "What's up?"

"Just wanted to ask you something."

"Hmm?"

"What were you and Emi doing?"

"Just getting paint for Rin."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He looked like there was more to it than that, but I didn't press further.

"Alright, man. Have a good night."

"You too," he said, closing his door.

I reentered my room and opened the fridge. Grabbing another Coca-Cola can, I sat on the bed once more. It wasn't awfully late. Hell, it wasn't even seven. I got back up and rummaged through the mini-fridge for something to eat, Coca-Cola can on the nightstand. I settled on some General Tso's chicken. The chicken was cold and refrigerated, but when I bought it, it was cooked. I liked the chicken cold just as much as if it was freshly made.

Before I dug in, I turned my iPod on, wanting to listen to some music. I ended up consuming chicken while listening to Sabaton. It was rather strange and oddly humorous to me.

After I finished the chicken, I slipped my shoes off and sat down at the desk. I grabbed the history book and finished the assignment I half-assed earlier in the day, sipping the soda every now and again.

I liked history, but Japanese history wasn't something I could get into, even if it was interesting. In the back of my mind, there was a nervousness about the history class. Once we reached World War II, it would be extremely awkward for me, considering I was American. Why should be self-explanatory.

Once I finished the assignment, I checked the time, pleased that it was around eight. I considered getting on Xbox once more. I glanced at my hockey equipment, loathing the fact I couldn't play. I strangely felt like playing, but I knew of no one in the school who played. Then again, I never asked.

I couldn't think of anything, so I took a shower, the second of the day. Feeling slightly refreshed, I headed back to my room and sat on my bed yet again. Boredom loomed over my head once more, so I reached into my bag and fished out "The Great Gatsby."

"May as well finish what I started," I said aloud, in English.

I lied down on the bed, book in hand, and continued where I left off.

**AN: Sorry about the short chapter. I'm using the first seven chapters at Yamaku to cover the first act. Next chapter is the end of Act I. Also, if you don't know anything about the Pacific Theater during World War II, there's something wrong. Plus, reviews are appreciated!**


	8. Festivities

Chapter Eight: Festivities

I woke up at nine the next morning. There was an object on my face, one that felt rather strange. I raised my arm and lazily swept it away, only to hear a thud. I opened my eyes and looked at what I brushed off of my face. "The Great Gatsby." _Must've fell asleep reading it,_ I thought. The book being on my face was a bit weird. I briefly wondered if it was a feminist plot, but pushed the thought away quickly, damning Kenji.

Doing my normal morning routine, barring taking a shower, I sat back down on my bed, thinking of what to do. I took my pills, including my ADHD meds, before actually thinking. It was Sunday, so the festival was being held...

_Wait, the festival?_ I thought. I had forgotten about the festival. I didn't know how, since everyone and their mother was running around for it. I wondered what the festival was going to be like. Maybe it was American-esque? Maybe it was traditional? Maybe it was... something. A conspiracy?

Damning Kenji once more, I slipped on casual clothes: a t-shirt and jeans. _Shouldn't be unacceptable,_ I thought. If it was, that wouldn't make any sense. Plus, I still needed to find out where I could get my clothes cleaned.

I walked over to the window and looked outside. The grounds were bustling with activity. At eight. In the morning.

"God, this country's confusing," I said to myself in English. Students were showing their parents around, too. In the States, open houses at schools used to be freaking amazing, showing your parents around a school that they likely went to already, or in my case, your aunt and uncle.

Stretching nonchalantly, I decided to go out into the wilderness that was the school grounds. Maybe check out a few things. I walked out of my room to find Kenji attempting to sneak into his room again. Once more, he couldn't see me.

"Kenji," I said. "What are you doing?"

He popped up, slightly startled. "Oh, hey man." I could tell he was nervous, his movements justifying as much. He held a brown paper bag.

"What's in the bag?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said, seemingly quick to avoid such questions.

"Well, it's something, I know that."

He looked around nervously, beckoning me to come closer. "I've got some whiskey," he whispered. "The manliest drink."

"What's the big deal then?" I asked. "I know that there are alcohol rules and-"

"It's those bitches on the Student Council! They have spies in here, man!" He fingered the ends of his scarf nervously.

"What makes you think that?"

"They deliver mail here sometimes, knowing EXACTLY where everyone is!" He looked around again. "They're in the feminists' pockets, I know! It's a plot to corner us men, secretly planting bombs in our mail and taking us out one by one!"

"I believe it," I lied. "But why do you have whiskey?"

"Dude, keep it down!" he quieted me. "Like I said, it's the manliest drink. You want some?"

"No thanks," I declined. "I don't drink."

"Suit yourself," Kenji replied, his voice returning to normal volume. Again, he glanced up and down the halls. "See you later." He then promptly disappeared into his room.

I walked down the hallway, slightly unnerved by Kenji's bomb-planting accusations. Misha did sort of fit the role of 'mad bomber.' Laughing a lot and seeming a little cuckoo. Shaking my head, I walked out of the dorms and into the crowds.

My first objective was to walk around aimlessly until I had a second objective, which then would have branched off into various other objectives. I wandered around aimlessly for two hours, having no sense of direction, before I realized I had forgot my wallet. How could I do anything without the ridiculous amount of money I had?

By the time I realized I needed my wallet, I was near the track. For some reason, stalls were set up near the track. I took a long walk back to the dorms, thinking about what I really should do, rather than wander around like an idiot.

_Maybe I'll find Lilly and Hanako, hell, even chill with Kenji and Hisao, _I thought. I actually had to think about my thought. I likely wouldn't hang with Kenji, and Hisao was likely doing something with Emi (I had my suspicions), so I settled on finding Hanako and Lilly after obtaining my wallet.

Upon reentering the dorms, I found it to be fairly empty. Pleasant. I headed up to my room. I left the door open a bit since I was only going to be a second, but when I grabbed my wallet, I heard knocking. I looked out into the hallway to see Hisao at Kenji's door. Even from my poor vantage point, I could see Kenji's door and hear the numerous locks on Kenji's door getting undone. The door opened a bit.

"Who is it?" Kenji asked, his face peering towards Hisao through the opening.

"You're supposed to ask that before you open the door," Hisao said.

I wanted to hear what Kenji would say, so I stayed quiet and positioned myself to where I could see both pretty well, but they couldn't see me.

"Oh, it's you. Damn, it's early," Kenji said. I wondered what he meant, since I encountered him smuggling whiskey two hours earlier.

"It's not really that early," Hisao said. I seconded his motion.

"What is it, man?"

"Nothing, was just gonna ask what you're gonna do today. Half the school is out there already, Adolf too." I was surprised I was getting mentioned,

"Out where? Why?" Kenji's face became imbued with rage.

"What?" Hisao asked, confusion bubbling over his face.

"What what? Is today special? Why are they there? Who are?" Kenji recomposed himself. "I can hear them. It's loud... don't tell me... Has the invasion begun?" He became worried. "What day is it, man?"

"Yeah I guess you can't see the big wooden booths outside, and people selling stuff..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenji asked. "I have my curtains closed at all times to thwart the snipers." That made even less sense than his half-baked conspiracies.

"Uhh, it's the festival," Hisao said. "You know that... right?" _Nope, don't think he does._

Kenji's eyebrow raised. "Oh shit, that's today?" His face washed over with worry. "Ah, damn. Ah... damn. Dammit." He gave Hisao a hard stare. "I can't believe I forgot, I don't have my fort finished yet. This is bad. This is going to be a very bad day... It's good you told me this, man. This is going to be a bad day." I started to wonder if he already drank that whiskey.

"Why?" Hisao asked.

"Oh man, they're going to be everywhere. The people. Outside my window." His face contorted to show his fear. "Socializing!" He rubbed his temples. "It's going to be loud as hell. Damn, and I was going to go out today, but now it's ruined, everything is ruined. This is awful. This sucks. This sucks!" He paused to breathe. "What the hell, this really sucks. I can't go anywhere now. There's nowhere to run. I can't believe this. So that's what today was. Damn, and I couldn't even prepare for it." _What about the whiskey?_ I thought. _You have that!_

Kenji stopped to breathe yet again. "I couldn't even brace myself and now it's here and I can't do anything. You should have told me this earlier, dude. No, Adolf should have. Unless his giving the Student Council a good what-for. I mean, at least, I know, but... I could have know earlier! Just imagine what I could have accomplished..." He trailed off, looking very upset. I certainly thought he knew, but as far as he was concerned, I was beating the Student Council to a pulp.

"Sorry. I thought you knew," Hisao said. "So, I guess you're not going to do anything today?" Kenji raised an eyebrow. "The weather is even good. Yesterday was really windy, so I thought today would be cold. It's not, though, so there's no reason to just stay inside. Yeah, you should check the festival out." Hisao did not understand that Kenji seemed to be a recluse.

Kenji groaned and held his face. "No, no! I can't do it. They'll eat me alive out there, I know it." He thought for a second. "What are you going to do? We should hang out in here, you can help me build my fort. We might still make it if we work together." Kenji always struck me as anti-social, but the way he claimed the crowds would 'eat him alive' made me wonder if he thought they were cannibals.

"I wonder..." Hisao thought aloud. "I'm kinda hungry, but I made this deal that I try to take better care of myself. Be healthier, you know. I don't know if I should steer clear of the takoyaki, or head straight in." _So he is doing something with Emi,_ I thought.

Kenji looked suspicious. "Deal? Sounds ominous. So what are you getting in return?"

"Nothing. I guess? It's not that kind of a deal. You know Emi, from our year? We kind of agreed to watch each other's backs and..."

Kenji let out a bloodcurdling screech, his face full of horror. "Her!" Kenji said accusingly. "You sold your soul to the devil, and didn't get anything in return? What the _hell_ is wrong with you, man? Do you know who you are dealing with?!" Hisao tried to respond, but Kenji continued. "She's a public health danger. Do you know how many people she sends to the hospital monthly with her carefully placed flying tackles?"

"She did tackle me and Adolf," Hisao said. "She tossed Adolf in the air," he added with a chuckle.

Kenji nodded, his face serious. "She's one of them! A key player in the vast conspiracy that aims for the completes submission of _everything_ that is manly." He scowled at Hisao. "I can't believe what I'm hearing. I trusted your judgment, man. I thought we were brothers."

"Well-"

"You have to call it off before it's too late. The festival too. It's just a front. The feminists control it all!"

Kenji started fingering his scarf, similarly to when we talked briefly that morning. He was trying to spark a flame this time, it seemed. His fingers rubbed faster and faster until he relaxed.

"I'm going to have to find some place to hide in, a safe haven," Kenji said. "And then knock the lights out of myself so that I don't have to experience this horrible day. I have the perfect thing for that. I must prepare now." He started to go back to his room, but paused, looking back at Hisao. "Don't go to the festival," he reminded him.

"Okay," Hisao said.

"Later, dude." Kenji slipped back into his room.

Hisao stood there dumbfounded, but eventually got a move on. I waited until he was long gone to make my move. I thought about what Kenji said in the meantime. _"I have the perfect thing for that." _Probably the whiskey he smuggled into the school, somehow missing any sign of the festival. I also noticed that Kenji's mood drastically changed when he and Hisao parted ways. Kenji was an odd fellow.

After a couple minutes, I got up to leave. I decided that I would check out the stall Hanako and I helped with. It was a noodle stall or something. I exited the dormitories, deciding to look for the noodle stall. Strolling through the crowds, the PA system turns on. I didn't even know there was a PA system on the grounds. Though completely unintelligible due to the age of the system and the volume of the crowds, the announcement that was made must have been an official opening. Not like the already booming festival needed it. The end of the announcement was met with almost universal applause.

I kept on searching for the noodle stall, my pride driving me through the Japanese humidity. It was considerably different than Pennsylvanian humidity, despite the school being farther north. My pride only came from the fact that I helped make a stall and I wanted to see it. I got proud over strange things.

The elders in the crowd were smiling, whereas the youths were being waterboarded. The students were completely indifferent, since a lot of them had to run it. I still had no clue where the stall would be, so I decided to check the school courtyard, despite walking through five different times.

In my trek to the courtyard, I passed some stalls that Hisao was standing in front of, getting reamed out by Emi. Something about not having a healthy breakfast. I continued, laughing after eavesdropping on their conversation for a minute.

"Poor guy," I said under my breath in English. "Never gonna get some tasty food."

After a few more minutes of trudging through the relentless crowd, I reached the courtyard. I glanced around, people obstructing my view. I managed to spot the banner that Hanako and I helped Kenji with. I walked towards it, deciding to get some noodles, even though I wasn't particularly fond of them.

The stall that 3-2 set up was easily double the size of most of the other stalls, essentially being an outdoor eatery and not a noodle stall. I waited patiently for the guy in front of me to get his Japanese pasta. Once he took his dish and left, I walked up to the counter. The girl working the stall appeared flustered.

"One moment," she said as she ducked underneath the counter.

I looked around while I waited. Steam rose from all over. The blind students unpacked ingredients with assistance from who was likely 3-2's teacher. I easily made Lilly. Not only is her tall stature and blonde hair easy to spot, but she was talking to the teacher while taking inventory. _Multitasking must be hard for the vision-deficient,_ I thought.

I figured that the group was uncoordinated, an assumption supported by the girl who was working the stall. She popped up, only to ask where the spare change box was. That caused Lilly and the girl to switch places and the teacher to leave.

"Sorry about that," Lilly said. "We're having a few problems. What would you like?"

"Buttered noodles," I said quickly. I hoped they had them.

"Adolf?" Lilly asked, her eyes opening.

"Hi, Lilly. Seems like you got your work cut out for you."

"Somewhere along the line, our order got mixed up," Lilly explained, her face showing slight annoyance. "We're trying to fix it now, but it looks like we only have half of what we needed."

"Well that sucks," I said. "Any ideas?"

"We're going to have to serve smaller portions," she said, sighing. "I wish we didn't. It also doesn't help that half of our class isn't here." Curious, my eyes wandered past her to see the manpower of the stall. I counted eight people.

"So why'd your teacher leave? To get more help?"

Lilly nodded. "She's going to try to grab some more of our students to help." Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an elderly couple anxiously waiting in line. _Might as well stop shooting the crap,_ I thought.

"Here's the money for the noodles," I said, pulling some yen out of my wallet.

Lilly seemed to forget. "Oh, right, noodles. Buttered?"

I nodded my head, forgetting she was blind. "Uh, yeah," I said, feeling stupid.

Lilly turned around and called for some buttered noodles while I forked over the money. She seemed dissatisfied that I handed her bills, but she was able to count the money. Satisfied with my payment, she handed me the proper amount of change.

A short while later, Lilly was given the noodles, which were then given to me along with a plastic fork. The bowl was wooden, so I thanked Lilly and asked if she wanted me to drop the bowl off. She nodded and I turned around to leave before she stopped me.

"Adolf, another thing. Have you seen Hanako?" she asked.

"No, not at all. Why?" I asked. Seeing Hanako in a crowd like the one at the festival was about as likely as seeing me own a tarantula. Not gonna happen.

Lilly sighed with disappointment. "It's okay," she said, disappointment tainting her voice. "I was just wondering what she was doing for the festival." She paused and then smiled. "So you plan on returning when you're done, then?"

"Yeah, I will," I said. "I'll make sure to be on the lookout for Hanako, too."

Lilly chuckled a little. I probably said something incorrectly in Japanese. "Thank you," she said as I turned to leave.

I searched for a nearby seat to eat, but I couldn't. I ended up eating the noodles while standing, not like it bothered me. I had a habit of eating while standing, sometimes eating holiday dinners on my feet. I dug into the noodles, glancing around every so often. There were some students who seemed rather resentful of the festival and it made me wonder what impact I would have made, had I helped more.

_Likely nothing, _I thought. Even if I had wanted to help, I would have ultimately been a thorn in everyone's side. Not only because I was American, not knowing what the hell needed to be done, but because I would likely have messed stuff up as well. Sighing, I ate more noodles. They were really good, much to my surprise.

The noodles didn't last long, so I took a short walk back to the 3-2 stall. Upon arrival, I noticed that there were considerably more people helping with the stall. The group doubled, going from eight to seventeen. Despite the exponential growth, Lilly seemed to be stressed out still.

I walked up to the counter, placing the bowl on it. I got Lilly's attention. Lilly's stress seemed to stretch to Hanako as well. Being the nice guy I am, and I wanted to talk with her anyway, I decided to find Hanako for Lilly.

Lilly thanked me for bringing the bowl back, but before she could leave, I told her I would find Hanako. Her face washed over with relief.

"Thank you, Adolf," she said. "If you see anyone from my class, can you tell them to come back here please?"

"Sure thing," I said. I noticed Lilly was still stressed. "Take a break if you can." Lilly nodded and we said goodbye to each other. I converged back into the mass that was the bumbling crowd.

_Where would Hanako be right now?_ I thought. The answer was obvious, so obvious that I almost facepalmed at my stupidity. _Library._ Setting my mental primary objective as the library, I moved against the crowd towards the school.

Entering the school, I was surprised to find the school just as packed as the outside, but infinitely more cramped. Squeezing my way past the crowd, I reached the stairs. The second floor wasn't as packed as the first floor, and as I neared the library, the crowd quickly dissolved. Unsurprised, I opened the door to the taboo location.

As is expected of a library, I was met with the usual musty, yet refreshing smell native of a library. The noise of the crowd wasn't able to penetrate the library, merely becoming a white noise of sorts. I slickly and smoothly made my way to Hanako's reading corner. Surprised when she wasn't there, I glanced around and saw her head poking above the partition on one of the desks.

"Hello, Hanako," I said. She jumped a bit before she cautiously peeked over the partition.

"A-Adolf?" she asked, likely wondering why I was there.

"Hello," I repeated. "Lilly had work to attend to, so I thought I'd just find you."

"O-oh," she said, probably wondering why I'd want to find her. "Do you want to sit down?"

"Sure," I said. Just as I was about to sit, my stomach growled. I swore in English.

"W-What is it?" Hanako asked.

I grunted. "I got hungry again." I sighed. "Man, I just ate," I added in English, mainly to myself.

"Um... I... I brought some food so..." Hanako quietly said. She was too kind, offering me food.

"Are you offering me food?" I asked in Japanese. She nodded slightly. "Okay, um... Hmm... Tea room?" She raised an eyebrow and her eyes widened. "No one was there, I assure you." She was relieved.

"S-sure," she agreed. "Let's go." Hanako them closed her book and returned it to its original spot with precision. Wordlessly, we made our way to the tea room, walking side-by-side. Like I told Hanako, nobody was present.

I glanced at Hanako. She was focused on the floor, her bag firmly grasped with both hands. The floor was tiled, and she was only stepping on the darker tiles, as if she was...

"Are you tile hopping?" I asked, my thoughts not completing. I did the same thing when I was younger.

My comment caused Hanako to freeze mid-hop. "W-what?" she asked.

"Tile hopping," I repeated. "That's what you're doing, right?"

She smiled a little and blushed. "Y-yes," she said, her eyes refocused on the floor. "H-how did you know?"

"I used to do it," I said. "It was something my sister had gotten me into. We would be in a store with tiled floors and she would start hopping between the tiles." I said it without thinking. I never mentioned my sister to anyone at the school. If I did, I forgot.

She silently confirmed that she understood and we continued walking. Almost like a primal instinct, I started tile hopping, too. Hanako likely noticed, but didn't show it. She was quietly enjoying her own tile hopping. When we reached our destination, I was surprised to actually hear the festival going on.

"Do... would you like some tea?" Hanako asked when I closed the door.

Though I wasn't a tea person, I accepted. She set off preparing the tea for the two of us, so I just stared out of the open window. The fresh air reminded me of the woods back home. I shot a quick look back at Hanako, realizing that it was the first time we were alone together. Not like I got any funny ideas, it was just a soothing thought. She wasn't jumpy and reluctant to be there.

Turning back around, I was greeted by a fresh pot of tea and some sandwiches on plates. Looking at Hanako, I noticed she was quite calm. How calm she was was almost surreal.

"This room is special to you, isn't it?" I asked Hanako. The room was like a safe haven to her.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked.

I thought of how to explain what I meant. "No one really comes here," I said. "No one can bother you here. It's like an exclusive club, where you can feel free. Free and carefree."

Hanako seemed to understand what I was getting at. "Y-you have a p-point," she said, also trying to think of something to add. Failing that, she asked something else. "D-do you play chess?"

Chess wasn't my thing. I won't say it didn't interest me, because it did. I just never had anyone to play with. "I've never really played," I said. "But I've always wanted to."

"W-wanted... to..." Hanako murmured as she hastily dug into a cupboard. She seemed eager to play, as she quickly produced a chessboard. "Do... do you want..."

"Yeah, let's play," I said, knowing full well I'd lose. "So long as you teach me how to play first." She set the board on the table, explaining the rules to the best of her abilities. I felt like I had grasped the concept, so we started to play.

My moves took much more time than hers, but that was to be expected, given my inexperience in the game. The game dragged on, Hanako slowly battering my pieces to a pulp. Not literally. In the end, she checkmated me.

Hanako smiled. "G-good game... for a beginner," she said.

"Good game," I returned the favor.

"Y-you're not... bad," Hanako said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought I did horrible." I thought about how to continue our conversation. "You play with others?"

"L-Lilly, sometimes... T-this is the first time I've played against someone... other than her, or..." she trailed off, likely having a bad memory brought up.

"I'm glad to have played my first game against you," I said, trying to ease her mind.

She looked up and smiled. "Um... can we play again?" God, that smile got to me. _Not the smile! No!_ I thought. And since when was Hanako competitive? She never struck me as that type.

"Alright, we shall. I think I got the hang of this now, though," I said.

We had just started to set up the pieces when there was a noise at the door. Hanako's face expressed fear. I turned to face the door.

"Good afternoon," Lilly said as she entered the room. I glanced back at my chess opponent.

Hanako smiled, the mystery intruder being her best friend. "Lilly..." she said in greeting.

"Hi, Lilly," I said. "You done?"

Lilly's eyes opened in surprise. "You both are here? Wonderful. At any rate, our teacher managed to round up some extra help, so I was able to leave." She closed her eyes. "Have you been here since you left?"

"Yeah," I said, shrugging unintentionally. "We've been playing chess."

"W-would you like a cup of tea?" Hanako asked Lilly quite abruptly. She was already on her feet.

"Actually, I think it may be a good idea to go outside for a little while..." Lilly said.

I could tell Hanako wanted to make like Phoenix Wright and object. Her face had "NOPE" written all over it, but she didn't open her mouth.

Concerned for Hanako, I spoke up. "Maybe we shouldn't," I said.

"Really?" Lilly asked. "It's so crowded here that I was thinking we should leave the school and head for the local tea house."

At that, Hanako perked up. "You mean the S-Shanghai?"

_Shanghai?_ I thought. _Now why would there be a place in Japan called the Shanghai?_ Then I remembered that there were places in the States with weirder names. Like Fuk Yu Wok. Something like that.

Lilly smiled. "Of course. With everyone at the festival, it should be practically empty."

"Teahouse?" I asked.

"Oh, right," Lilly said. "You probably don't know of it." _Definitely don't know is more like it. _"There is a teahouse not far from here, which we go to every so often."

I considered the idea. "Alright, why not?" I said. "How about you Hanako?"

She jumped at me bringing her into the conversation. She relaxed, though. "If... if it's the Shanghai, I think it'll be nice."

"Well then," Lilly giggled. "It's settled. Let's be on our way."

_No more chess,_ I thought as I stood. Hanako already rushed over and put the chess stuff away.

"So... I guess we're ready then?" I asked.

"Y-yes," Hanako confirmed.

We walked out into the halls, Hanako nearly embracing Lilly again. I had expected to leave out of the front doors, but I thought wrong. Following the duo, we exited via a gauntlet of unfamiliar doors, winding up on the side of the building that was opposite of all festivities.

"I wonder why no one is leaving," I wondered aloud when we got to the gates.

"They're probably still here to view the fireworks," Lilly said.

"Fireworks?"

"Yes," Lilly replied. "Apparently the school puts on quite a show. A lot of people come from town just to watch them."

Lilly's plan to head into the town then made sense. Hanako plus large crowds going to or from the school equals one unhappy Hanako. We started to descend to the town, the steep hill being much easier to descend than ascend. I learned that two days prior.

Hanako kept Lilly in her death grip, but was a capable guide. She was silent, but not miserable. She had her head down the whole time, unlike her blind best friend. Lilly kept her composure. I noticed that she put an effort into her appearance, which I found slightly strange. Given her blindness and all.

We walked for what seemed to be longer than twenty minutes, eventually reaching the fabled teahouse. The facade of the business made me wonder why it was so special, but the inside was vastly different than the inside. The interior was very similar to Chinese restaurants back home, all wooden and Chinese. Interestingly, the building was empty.

"Is this place open?" I asked.

As soon as I opened my mouth, a chair fell over, the sound reverberating throughout the restaurant. A familiar head popped up from a booth.

"I wasn't asleep and welcome to the Shanghai!" Yuuko, the _librarian_, said. She was dressed in a pinkish apron, likely work dress, and she clutched a menu. Her glasses were lopsided and her hair was a mess. I doubted she was awake at the time. I didn't want to ask that, rather, I was curious as to why she was there.

"Since when did you work here?" I asked.

"What?" Yuuko replied. "Lilly? Adolf?" She paused nervously. "Welcome to the Shanghai!"

After welcoming us a second time, Yuuko tried to bow quickly, her glasses flying off in doing so.

She groaned in frustration. "My glasses..."

I picked them up for her, since I am a gentleman, and Lilly explained to me why Yuuko was there. Apparently, Yuuko worked part-time at the teahouse, making a reason for Lilly and Hanako to frequent the Shanghai. Yuuko thanked Lilly for explaining and offered to show us to our table. Luckily for us, we were able to choose our own table, due to the lack of people, but Yuuko had to make the food, causing a delay.

"It's all right, Yuuko," Lilly said, trying to calm down the neurotic librarian-waitress. "Just a pot of black tea and a plate of sandwiches will be fine."

"Right!" Yuuko said. "I'll get right onto that!" She then rushed off to the back of the business, leaving our little trio seatless. Noticing this, she came back and told us to sit wherever before heading back to the back.

Hanako heeded her advice, leading Lilly and I to a nearby booth. Sitting down, I couldn't help but compare the tea shop to the tea room. Both were perfect for Hanako, except in different ways, the involvement of tea notwithstanding. The seats' high backs allowed for some seclusion, not to mention the business seemed to not receive many patrons.

"So, Adolf," Lilly said. "I didn't know you played chess."

"I don't," I said. "Hanako just taught me how to play."

"I wonder... who won?"

"Hanako," I said, absolutely no ill-feeling in my voice. I sucked and that was that.

"Well Hanako," Lilly said. "You seem to be very dominant."

Hanako blushed. "I-I didn't beat him by much..."

"It was fun, though," I said.

"Y... yes... It was," Hanako replied. She smiled again, playing with her hair. That smile would be the death of me.

Yuuko reentered the scene atrociously, plates and cups clattering violently with Yuuko's seizure-like tremors. I offered help, but she refused, saying it was her job. She managed to gently set the trays down. By gently, I mean not-so-subtly.

"There, see!" she exclaimed, pleased with herself. I was speechless.

"Thank you, Yuuko," Lilly replied, causing Yuuko to bow extremely quickly. If she didn't rise back up, I would have thought she fainted. Or snipers. _Dammit Kenji,_ I thought. Thwarting snipers, pfft.

"You're very welcome," Yuuko said.

"Would you like to join us?" Lilly asked the clumsy librarian-waitress. "There's something else I'd like to discuss about that recent order, if I may..." The way she said it made me think of a drug deal.

"Ah... yes. We didn't get the chance to go through them, did we?" Yuuko plopped into the seat beside Hanako, scaring her a bit. _Seems like she has a short attention span,_ I thought. It wasn't a farfetched thought.

"I'll be in the library tomorrow afternoon if you'd like to try again," Yuuko said.

"That sounds perfect," Lilly replied. "I'll meet you there after classes."

Hanako looked taken aback. "Um... L-Lilly," she said.

Lilly looked taken aback. "Oh dear, that's right. Tomorrow is Monday, how could I have forgotten?" I had no idea what was going on. "Well, perhaps we could come to some other arrangement." Lilly turned towards Yuuko. Well, roughly towards her. "Yuuko, will you be in the library later in the week?"

Yuuko seemed slightly flustered. "Maybe, but this is already overdue..."

"A-and there are some... things I n-need..." Hanako sputtered out.

Lilly closed her sightless eyes. "This might be a problem..." She seemed to be deep in thought, until a possible answer presented itself. "I wonder, might we be able to enlist the help of another, if need be...?"

I knew she was referring to me, but I had no idea what I was to help Hanako with. "Enlist another's help to do what, exactly?" I asked. "I don't follow."

"Oh, of course," Lilly said. "The other day I was helping Yuuko sort the new Braille books in the library." She swallowed. "But Hanako and I usually go shopping on Monday afternoons. It's quieter than on weekends."

I couldn't help but remember our little escapade on Friday. Lilly seemed to read my mind. "Last week we couldn't go because I was busy with the festival. I managed to slip away later in the week, you should know, but Hanako couldn't make it."

"So, I go shopping with Hanako, then?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Correct. You were a great help to me the other day," Lilly replied.

"I'm game," I said. "What do you think, Hanako?"

Hanako seemed nervous at first, but she relaxed. "I-if you wouldn't mind..."

"Why would I?" I asked. "I mean, I'm not knowledgeable with the area itself, either, so it is a win-win."

"O-okay," Hanako said.

"Now that we have that arranged," Lilly said, smiling. "Shall we have some tea?"

"It's my fault! Let me pour that for you..." Yuuko said, trying to pour the tea. Her hands were shaking violently. Why was she so damn nervous?

"Yuuko, I got it," I said. She tried to refuse, but I stopped her. "This isn't part of your job, is it? You've already delivered our order."

"I... I guess," the shaking woman said, seeming to relax.

I went on to pour tea for us, Yuuko not included. I sat down afterward, eying up a sandwich. I went to sip the tea when a bright flash appeared in the sky, accompanied by an explosion.

Lilly was unfazed. "Ah, I take it the show has started."

I looked outside. It seemed that we were in the Shanghai for quite some time, the afternoon orange turning into evening purple. Fireworks were being launched into the sky, exploding in their normal pretty colors.

"Let's go watch!" Yuuko said excitedly. "Oh... sorry Lilly..."

Lilly didn't seem to mind her blindness. "Please, don't miss the show on my account. From what I've heard, this isn't a bad location to watch them from."

Despite being bored of fireworks thanks to seventeen Fourth of Julys, I still went to the window with Yuuko and Hanako. The explosives produced the usual mixture of colors. Yeah, I was used to it and bored of it, but I was drawn in to marvel. Maybe it was because they weren't American fireworks, but Japanese fireworks.

The luminance cast by the light-making explosives worked its way over Hanako's face. I found myself looking somewhere that wasn't the fireworks for a minute. She didn't notice, still in awe of the fireworks. Her face was beautiful... _Wake up Adolf!_ I mentally shook myself up and looked back out of the window.

The brilliant display ended rather quickly. It was nowhere near as long as a firework display for Independence Day, but it seemed better. Surprised at its length and disappointed at the same time, I turned back to the table.

"A-Adolf," Hanako said before I walked back to the table. I turned to her. "Um, t-thanks for today..." She blushed. "...and tomorrow."

"No problem Hanako," I said. "I'd rather spend a day like this away from everyone anyway, you know?" I was being truthful. I wasn't a people person.

"Y-yeah," Hanako said.

I glanced back at the table. "We should go back before everything gets cold," I said.

"S-sure." The two of us returned to the table and our food.

"That sounded impressive," Lilly said when we sat down. "Bigger than last year's at least."

"Yeah it was great!" Yuuko exclaimed. "I've never seen them put on such a show. It gets better every year!"

Lilly sighed. "I'm afraid, however, that during that time, the tea has gone cold."

Yuuko jumped up. "Oh no! Let me make some more! This is my fault!" _Just when she was relaxing, too,_ I thought.

"Yuuko, it's not your fault," I said. As if to prove a point, I sipped at the tea. "It's like iced tea."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just add a little bit of sugar if you want."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Will you please sit down so we can finish this as a group?"

"O-okay," Yuuko said, having put every ounce of faith in me. By every ounce of faith, I mean five teaspoon-fulls of sugar to her tea.

"That's not a bit," I said.

"I know, but I like my tea sweet anyway." _No, you like diabetes in a cup,_ I thought darkly. She downed the sugar-filled drink in one gulp. "You're right! That's not bad at all!"

"Uh, okay then..." I glanced at Hanako and Lilly, both of them having finished their meals. I didn't want to be waited on and did what Yuuko did. I downed my tea in one gulp.

Swallowing roughly, I cleared my throat. "I guess we're all done, then."

"Should we head back now or do we want seconds?" Lilly asked, her eyelids opening. Yuuko clearly wished for the former.

"Maybe we should head back," I said. If not, Yuuko would probably fling the next tray out the window with her tremors. "We do have curfew, right?"

"Good point," Lilly said. I just mentioned curfew as an afterthought. "I'll meet you tomorrow, Yuuko."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Lilly," Yuuko said, still nervous. "Goodbye, everyone." She went to get up but hit her knee and laughed it off before limping behind the counter. Hanako, and I waved goodbye as we left the teahouse. Lilly said goodbye, since waving would be impractical.

We walked onto the street, enveloped in darkness. Lilly and Hanako led the way back once more, but Hanako was noticeably less tense than she was when we walked down. The darkness must have soothed her. By then, people were slowly starting to filter back into the town, so Hanako detoured us some, avoiding the crowds to the best of our ability.

The walk back to Yamaku was rather silent on my end. Lilly and Hanako would occasionally say something and giggle, but I just followed, admiring the Japanese countryside. Once we started to ascend the hill's steepest parts, I made sure to breathe effectively. I was quickly getting tired by the time we reached the gates. My side started hurting, so the gates were a sort of saving grace in my head.

We entered the seemingly deserted courtyard and crossed the gardens to the dorms. I noticed that Rin's painting was done and it seemed rather... strange.

I faced the girls and thanked them for the day.

"You're most welcome," Lilly said. "But, I'm afraid that I really must be going. Today's been a long day." It _was_ a long day, especially for her.

"Alright, then. I shall see you both tomorrow," I said.

"Goodnight, Adolf," Lilly said.

"N... night," Hanako said, shyly smiling. She seemed to smile a lot near me.

Nonetheless, we parted ways. I walked up to my dorm room, seeing no one in the common room. I fumbled for my key when I heard a door open. I twisted my head around to see Kenji standing behind me. His hair was messy and his glasses were haphazardly put on.

"H-hey man," he said, hiccuping. "What are you doing?" His speech was very slurred, making it hard for me to understand his Japanese.

"Going to bed," I said.

"That's... bullshit! I know it!"

"How so?"

He took off his glasses. "I know bullshit when I see it!"

I held up two fingers. "Then how many fingers am I holding up?" They were fairly close to his face.

"Uh, potato?" Kenji replied.

I sighed. "Go home, Kenji, you're drunk."

"I'm manly!"

"That's great, and I'm Jesus."

"Well hi Jesus, it's nice to meet you!"

"Kenji," I said, turning around completely. "What do you want?"

"What were you doing with the blind bitch? And Scarface?"

I bit back several retorts for him calling Hanako 'Scarface.' I didn't even know why it bothered me at the time, it just did. Plus, he was pretty blind, himself.

"We were in town," I answered truthfully. "Why? Problem?"

He went to say something when he fell over, groaning. "I think I'm going to be sick..."

I groaned in frustration. "Get up," I said, grabbing him by the arm. I pulled him to his feet and slung his arm around the back of my neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his slurred speech hard to decipher. His breath reeked of whiskey.

"Helping you."

I started walking forward, his legs sliding. A minute and several slurred words later, I had Kenji safely in a toilet stall. He was puking his guts up. Heave, expunge, heave, expunge. Five minutes later, the vicious expulsion of alcohol seemed to finish. Opening the stall, I looked at Kenji, nearly unconscious on the floor next to the toilet. The toilet itself wasn't pretty, so I flushed it.

I pulled Kenji to his feet once more and dragged him back to the hallway. I pushed his door open with my foot and dragged him to what appeared to be a bed. His room was completely dark, save a stray ray of moonlight that allowed me to barely identify the bed. I dragged Kenji to the bed and dropped him onto it.

Kenji was out of it, but I heard him mumble a "thank you" on my way out. I was pretty sure that was the Jack Daniels talking. I pulled his door shut and unlocked my door. Entering my room, I put my wallet on the desk and grabbed my toothbrush. I went back to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and went back. I slid out of the clothes I was wearing and tiredly walked over to my bed, flopping on top of it.

I lied there, thinking. It certainly was interesting to see Kenji drunk, but he was loud. And how'd he see me with Hanako and Lilly? Then I started thinking about Hanako, how she acted around me. It made me grin involuntarily.

I couldn't keep my mind off of Hanako that night. No matter how hard I tried, my stubborn brain kept finding its way back to her. As long as I was conscious, it focused on the shy girl. I sighed and rolled over numerous times before I realized it.

I was falling for Hanako.

**AN: Not the longest, but not the shortest! Act I has officially ended for Adolf! Please, do review. Prepare for original scenarios, my friends. They're coming. Also, writing original dialogue for Kenji was harder than I thought. I predict the ninth chapter to be out later this week.**


	9. Shopping, Sleep, Hands

Chapter Nine: Shopping, Sleep, Hands

_Knock knock knock!_

I jolted up. Someone was knocking on my door again, disturbing me from my wonderful slumber.

"Who is it?" I groggily said in Japanese.

"Hisao," a voice said from behind the door.

Sighing, I leaned back on my bed. "What is it?"

"Are you running today?" I glanced at the time. Quarter past six.

"No, I wasn't planning on it."

"Emi's going to be pissed."

"Well, let her. She never talked to me about running today. She never set up a schedule. She can be pissed all she wants."

Hisao sighed. "Yeah, I forgot. It was _me_ who she made a schedule for."

"What do you mean?" My interest was piqued.

"I... Dammit," he said. "I'll talk to you later, Adolf. Got to go." Footsteps sounded rapidly down the hallway.

I guessed he had to run with Emi. He wasn't entirely pleased when he mentioned her making him a schedule. At least it sounded so. In a way, I felt bad for Hisao, having to run with the legless wonder. I was also darkly glad he had to run, simply because he disturbed my sleep, even though I knew he meant well.

I pulled the sheets back over my shoulders and fell back asleep for another hour. When I woke up, I went through the morning motions. Shower, brush teeth, stare at closet, put on uniform... the works. I had forty-five minutes before class started, so I looked over the Japanese book once more.

I spent twenty minutes doing Japanese vocabulary exercises. That's all I really did, since the first thing I learned from Sakura was proper grammar. Past and future tenses, pronouns, sentence structure (which was quite confusing), et cetera. I had a firm grasp on the grammar and the vocabulary, I just needed a more expansive vocabulary.

Closing the Japanese book, I grabbed my bag, took my medicine, and headed out. In the hallway stood a hungover Kenji, struggling to get to the bathroom.

"Have a good night, Kenji?" I asked.

He looked around for me. "Where are you?"

"Right here," I said, stepping in front of him. "How was your whiskey?"

He groaned. "Damn, my head's killing me." He smiled. "The whiskey was great, though."

"Sure didn't look like it was last night."

"What do you mean?" He was talking slowly, likely due to his headache.

"Oh right, you wouldn't remember," I said, remembering that when someone was drunk, they likely wouldn't remember any events that occurred during their intoxication. How could I ever forget that?

"What happened?" he asked, slightly impatient.

"You were drunk." He rolled his eyes, as if saying, 'I would have never guessed.' "You came out here and started yelling," I continued. "Then you fell on the floor, saying you felt sick."

"Did you just leave me here?"

"Did you wake up rolling in vomit?" He shook his head. "Then, no, I didn't. I dragged you to the bathroom so you could throw up. Then, I dragged you to your room."

He looked down, sighing, before looking at me as best he could. "Thanks, man. I may have misjudged Hisao, but I didn't misjudge you. You're a good man." He clutched his stomach. "Now if you excuse me, I have to use the bathroom." As he walked away, I heard him mutter, "Damn feminists, poisoning my whiskey."

I chuckled lightly. Hungover Kenji was a lot easier to talk to than normal Kenji. He seemed almost... normal.

I walked down the hall, accompanied by some other boys. While there was no conversation, I noticed that all of them looked dreary and worn, likely from the festival, also likely causing the silence.

Exiting the dorms, I headed to the school, crossing the gardens as normal. All around were students, most stumbling across the grounds. The ones that didn't stumble were walking slowly, likely still tired. _Who would have thought that a traditional festival would leave everyone tired?_ I thought.

I thought about it. I was glad that schools in the United States didn't do that. Festivals and such. Becoming tired from having fun and having to go to class the next day wasn't appeasing. My brain had to invalidate that, however, reminding me that I had gym first period during the first semester of my freshman year. It wasn't fun, I know that. Physically exhausted, I would go to my second period, a computer class, and literally fall asleep on the keyboard. I then figured that festivals would be nice to have during school in America. Way to go, brain.

Walking mindlessly up the stairs to the school, I missed a step and tripped. Immediately pushing my hand out to catch myself, the concrete roughly cut my palm. Wincing in slight pain, I pushed myself up. It was nothing I haven't done before, so I carried on.

I ducked into the bathroom in the lobby almost immediately after entering. There was a small amount of blood slowly sliding down my palm. I turned on one of the faucets and cleaned the wound with soap and hot water. Probably not my best idea. I dried off my hands with a paper towel and used another dry one to apply pressure. After about half a minute, the bleeding stopped completely, so I disposed of the towel and continued to homeroom.

When I walked into homeroom, I was greeted by a nearly full class. Nearly every face was showing fatigue, weary and depleted. It almost seemed as if they had no will to live, but that was stretching it. Hisao seemed drained too, but I chalked that up to his run with Emi.

Another welcome addition to the depressing room was silence. I had only realized why when I took my seat: the Deaf-Drill Duo wasn't present.

_Hallelujah! Praise the lord!_ I imagined everyone thinking. I smiled at my own thoughts, but they didn't last long. Misha drilled her way through the door, her drills of destruction bobbing. She seemed rather luminous, her arms extended towards the ceiling.

"Ya-hooo!" she loudly cheered. "It's all over!" She had her mouth gaping in a smile, clearly excited that the festival was over. Obviously she was, since she and Shizune were on the Student Council.

I glanced around the classroom. Most of the students in the class were glaring at Misha, still wanting the good times to roll. Misha was frozen in place by the icy stares. Arms still in the air, she nervously looked around, unsure of what to do. She obviously picked up the sour mood, but suddenly, she lurched forward.

Misha herself was surprised. "Hey!" she called out.

Responsible for Misha lurching into the class was Shizune, entering the class with her arm still in front of her. Shizune started signing to Hisao and I, but Misha wasn't translating.

"Wonderful show," Hisao said sarcastically. "Can you sit down?"

Shizune signed again, Misha not paying attention. Frustrated, Shizune poked Misha in the side and signed again.

Misha yelped in surprise from the poke. "Yeah! Shicchan says she's not happy with either of you for ditching us last week," she said, her cheeks slightly red in embarrassment from ignoring Shizune. "We were really busy!"

"Not like that's not obvious," I said, a little bit on sass in my words. They complained about it so much, so not knowing would be difficult. "Besides, Hisao and I helped out a bit anyway." I didn't think of mentioning Hanako and I helping with 3-2's noodle stall.

Shizune signed, frowning deeply at us. "She says that only counts for council members," Misha said. "Since you both declined, she doesn't owe either of you anything." She then leaned in between us. "Actually, I think she's just upset that neither of you spent time with her. She's grateful for your help, though."

Shizune seemed to sense a disturbance in the Force, lightly slapping her fingers on her desk until Misha faced her. Despite being deaf, Shizune could tell when someone spoke of her. Misha and Shizune signed back and forth, ending with Misha laughing and Shizune blushing. Hisao and I exchanged looks for the first time that day.

They couldn't hear us, so I leaned next to him. "What do you think they said?"

Hisao shrugged. "Likely something involving Shizune liking us, I guess."

I nodded, and in doing so, the door reopened, though nowhere near as abruptly. Entering the room was Hanako, quiet as per usual. I could see her scanning the classroom hastily, but as I was watching, her eyes locked with mine. She stiffened, closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and walked to my desk. Hisao nudged me, his eyes wide. I glared at him and turned to Hanako.

"G..." she struggled to talk. "Good morning Adolf."

"Guten morgen, Hanako," I greeted her in the language of the Fatherland. She didn't seem to understand. "Good morning. Little late, it seems."

"I... was talking to Lilly," she replied. "A-about today." _Schieße, I forgot,_ I thought. _Gotta go shopping with her._

"She give you a list or something?" I asked. Hanako nodded. "You want to head down after school, then?"

"S-sure," Hanako replied, flashing an embarrassed smile at me before heading to her seat.

Misha and Shizune looked at me, their eyes wide. I glared at them, just like I glared at Hisao. Misha tried containing her laughter, her lips furled and her cheeks expanding. Eventually she gave in. I turned away out of annoyance. I looked at Hisao and he just shrugged. I sighed, wishing people weren't so immature.

Eventually, Mutou entered the class and simply gave us busywork, slumping in his chair. He didn't even ask for the work he assigned Friday. I was a little upset with that. I did all that work, to no avail. That was actually the reason I never did homework in school when I was home. If I did it, teachers never checked, but if I didn't, they did.

Most of the work he gave us was physics. I was good with physics, so I had no issues with the work. Aside from not actually getting the history work checked. When the lunch bell sounded, I glanced at Hisao. He seemed to be having trouble getting out of his seat.

"Need help?" I asked, extending my hand. He nodded, grasping my hand as I pulled him up.

"Thanks," he said, his head bowed.

"No problem. Why couldn't you-"

"Morning run," he interrupted. "My legs are killing me."

"How wonderful," I said, sarcasm in my voice. He correctly identified it as a joke. "So," I continued. "Is Emi pissed at me?"

"Yes," Hisao said. "She said she was upset with you not continuing and urged me to drag you to the track." He paused. "She said she'd do it if I didn't."

I laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah," Hisao said, starting to walk out the door. "Hey, I got to go. We'll talk later?"

I nodded. "See you soon, man."

_Wonder where he's going,_ I thought. I glanced back to the back of the room, seeing Hanako patiently wait for Lilly.

No one else was in the room. "Waiting for Lilly, Hanako?" I asked from half-way across the room.

She turned to face me and nodded. I was glad she wasn't a recluse near me. Just then, there was a knock on the back door and Hanako's face lit up. She rushed to open the door, greeting Lilly.

"Hello, Hanako," Lilly said in her lady-like manner. "Ready to go?"

"Y-yes," Hanako replied. They turned to leave.

"Hey," I said, halting them. "Mind if I tag along again?"

"Ah, Adolf," Lilly said, smiling. "I don't see why not." _Did she just say she didn't **see** why not?_ I thought, feeling awkward. Hanako silently nodded in agreement with Lilly.

With that, we set off for the tea room. I didn't bring anything once more, but I hadn't used the bathroom since the festival, so I wasn't hungry. If I was offered food, however, I would gladly accept.

The second floor was as barren as ever as we walked down its hallway. The tea room wasn't hard to retrace a path to, but I didn't need to since Hanako and Lilly led the way. We got settled into the quiet room fairly quickly, Hanako and Lilly following the same routine as the last time I was there. Sitting down, I felt a pang of guilt for not helping, but the girls didn't seem to mind. _Maybe it would just mess with their rhythm,_ I thought, reassuring myself.

Finished with preparing the tea, Lilly sat down opposite of me. Hanako sat beside me when she was done setting up the lunch itself.

"So, Adolf," Lilly said. "Why exactly did you want to accompany us today?"

I hadn't expected such a question. "I didn't want to eat with the Student Council."

Lilly opened her eyelids slightly. "Do you normally eat with someone else?"

"Yes. Hisao."

"Why not today?" Lilly wasn't being imposing, just curious.

"I think he's eating with Emi."

"Oh, Emi," Lilly chuckled. "She's a character."

"D-do you want some food?" Hanako asked, completely diverting my attention from Lilly. She was offering me a little dinner roll-esque piece of bread.

I nodded, accepting the food. They were far too nice to me.

* * *

After an otherwise quiet lunch, we headed back to class. Lilly broke off at 3-2 and Hanako and I entered 3-3 with me taking point. I took my seat and Hanako took hers. We actually arrived pretty early. Misha and Shizune were in the room, among a few others, specifically the girl who seemed to always be sleeping.

Misha was standing in front of the door, as if she was waiting for someone. Sure enough, her wish came true as Hisao walked through the door.

"Didn't see you in the cafeteria, Hicchan," she said, beaming. She didn't mention my absence, so I must have went unnoticed by her.

"Yeah, I decided it was too crowded there," Hisao replied.

Misha's grin grew wider. "Oh really? Are you sure you weren't participating in an illicit rendezvous?" She had a bit of trouble pronouncing the French word.

"W... what?" Hisao asked, visibly confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You were on the roof, right?" Hisao hesitantly nodded. "With both Rin and Emi, no less! You Casanova, you!"

"We... we just had lunch, that's all!" Hisao was cracking under the pressure, blushing fiercely.

Misha burst into laughter, causing anyone who wasn't paying attention to start. "You're so adorable when you blush like that, Hicchan!" She winked at Hisao. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." I sincerely doubted that, for Hisao's sake.

"There's no secret!" he exclaimed.

Misha was taken aback, her wide grin disappearing. "Oh?" That lasted about two seconds. "Time will tell!" she exclaimed, her wide grin making a comeback in extra-wide.

Luckily for Hisao, Mutou walked in the room. Misha and Hisao both took their seats while Mutou scrawled more pointless problems on the board.

I leaned over to Hisao. "So you and Emi and Rin had lunch, huh?" I whispered.

"Don't start, dude," he said.

"You did it to me earlier when Hanako talked to me," I reminded him.

He sighed in defeat. "Fine, yes I did. Any more questions?"

"Emi mention me at lunch?" I was curious on how angry she was with me.

"She said that I should drag you down in the morning, again." He shrugged. "Other than that, no."

I sighed in relief. "Wunderbar," I said in German. Hisao raised an eyebrow. "It's German for 'wonderful,'" I said in Japanese.

"Oh. You know," he said. "You should come to her track meet next week."

"Why?" I asked, my voice slightly above a whisper.

"So maybe she'll get off your back," Hisao replied. He was trying to help me out. "Also, can you just run this week? I don't want to be hassled again."

I thought about it. He was helping me out, telling me to go to Emi's track meet so she could get off of my back. In return, he wanted me to run in the mornings to get her off of his back.

"Maybe," I said after some thought. "I'll go tomorrow morning, but I can't assure the rest of the week." He nodded, slightly relieved. "As for the track meet, I'll see what I have planned." I had nothing planned, but things pop up.

"Okay," Hisao said.

I turned to continue my work, but I felt a hand touch my back. I froze, the sudden touch startling me. Slowly, I turned around to see Misha grinning ever-so-widely.

"Where were you Adolf-chan?" She was actually being quiet for once.

"Who needs to know?" I asked, irritated with her intrusiveness.

"Were you with Hanako?" she asked.

"Why is it important?"

"Because! It just is!"

I sighed, knowing full well that she wouldn't shut up unless I answered her. "Yes, I was. Why?"

She turned to Shizune and signed happily. "Shicchan owes me a thousand yen now!"

"You bet on where I was?" I huffed.

Misha grinned. "Yep!"

I shook my head and turned around, in complete disbelief of the duo. I started doing the work we were assigned. It was trigonometry. I _hate_ trigonometry. I wanted to throw the book out of the window. I almost failed trigonometry my sophomore year, but that's not why I hate the horrid subject. I have my reasons, partially associated with my inability to handle numbers well.

The class passed without incident, besides the monstrosity that is trigonometry. Unfortunately, Mutou assigned the remaining problems as homework. When the final bell sounded, Misha and Shizune attempted to trap Hisao and I.

"You guys know," Misha said to us. "It's not too late to join the council. There's a lot of post-festival paperwork for us to complete..."

"Sorry Misha, I already have plans," I said. Hanako materialized as I said that. She was holding a small bag, probably for what she was going to buy. I glanced at Hisao, who was having trouble standing up. "And look at Hisao, he can barely walk," I added, trying to rescue Hisao from the Council's clutches. I reached down and grabbed Hisao's hand to pull him out of the chair, after which he promptly left the class to avoid Misha and Shizune.

Misha noticed Hanako, her eyes expanding before she broke down into extreme laughter. "You move fast, don't you Adolf-chan? What they say about Americans is true then!" She laughed again. "We won't disturb your date any further!" She cackled once more.

I noticed Shizune wasn't exactly paying attention, not like I was bothered. I was deciding on any retorts I could utilize when I felt a subtle tug on my uniform. Hanako had grabbed my shirt in an attempt to get me to leave, though her eyes were locked-on to the floor.

"L... let's..." she nervously tried saying.

"Yes, let's," I agreed. "Shizune, Misha, auf Wiedersehen."

Hanako and I proceeded to the back door, the duo confused with my German usage. After Hanako grabbed her things, but before we completely left, I leaned my head back through the doorway.

"Still not going to join the council!" I called. That likely made them even more displeased. It was worth it, though. In the hallway, and out of earshot of Misha, I started to giggle. Yes, giggle.

"W-why are you... giggling?" Hanako said, the pause actually being from confusion.

"Because the look on their faces was kind of funny," I said. It wasn't downright hilarious, but it was pretty funny.

Hanako and I continued out of the school, trying to avoid as many people as possible. Upon nearing the gates, it became apparent that we weren't the only ones trying to get to town. Regardless, we pushed through the wave of students and out of the gate. Hanako used me as a shield the entire time, but when we were far enough away from the gate, she relaxed.

She moved to a position that could be called "close enough." It wasn't like she was embracing me, but it wasn't like she was further than an arm's length away. I had no qualm with it, the only qualm really being with the silence that seemed to curse us.

I looked Hanako over. She was extremely tense as we walked down the hill. Her mouth was tightly shut and her bag was in a death grip. She almost looked like she was in trouble. I found it funny, accidentally letting a laugh slip.

"W-what's the matter...?" Hanako asked, confused. _Well, since you asked..._

"You act like you're in trouble," I said, grinning.

"W-w-what do you mean?" Hanako asked, her mouth wide open in either shock or confusion. I stopped grinning.

"Just relax, Hanako. We're going to town, not many people are going to be around."

"R-right," she said.

"You do this every week with Lilly, right?" I asked. She nodded. "Well, imagine I'm Lilly. Except I'm a guy. And American. And not blind..." I trailed off, unsure of what I was trying to say. "You know what, forget it. I'm here, we're only going to the store. Everything will be fine."

She slyly smiled at my inability to get my point across. She tried to hide it, which preempted any more conversation.

We walked to the town in silence, as usual. Silence just seemed to be a growing part of my life in Japan. The descent into town was met by the occasional group of students. What I dreaded was the ascent back to Yamaku. _Maybe I should have went running,_ I thought. It was a decent idea, until I remembered how beat Hisao was.

When we reached the Aura Mart, we were essentially alone. We walked in the store, Hanako using me as a human shield once more. I grabbed a basket for Hanako.

We walkedisown the aisles, Hanako tossing items in. I glanced over her selections as she put them into the basket. There was a loaf of break, a liter of milk, teabags and thyme. I didn't completely understand why she had a random bottle of herbs with her otherwise normal selections. I didn't question it, though. She had her reasons.

I was completely unaware of my surroundings, deep in thought, when Hanako brought me back to reality. She threw one final object into her basket before handing me the basket and some yen notes. I raised an eyebrow.

"C-c-could you p-please..." Hanako stuttered.

I quickly realized she wanted me to pay. "Sure," I said, nodding. She put her head down after I nodded. Quietly, we walked to the counter and I paid for Hanako's items. With her own money, of course. The person at the counter was rather indifferent towards us. It made sense, being next to a school for the disabled and all. Don't want to make the students uncomfortable.

With that done, I grabbed Hanako's bags and we headed back out into the street, starting our ascent to the Academy. The road was empty and silence settled in again. The silence was overshadowed by Hanako returning to an erect position, the lack of people pleasing to her. I remembered the thyme and wondered why she had it. Was she a cook or something?

"So, you like to cook?" I asked, completely foregoing any inquiries about the thyme.

"Y-yes," Hanako said "S-sometimes."

I nodded. "I never really could cook well," I said. "Maybe you could show me sometime?"

"S-sure," she said, smiling a little bit. "A-Adolf?" she said, catching my attention.

"Yeah?"

"W-what was that you said... in the c-classroom?"

"What? 'Auf Wiedersehen?'" She nodded. "It's German for 'goodbye.'"

She sounded it out quietly. "A-auf wiedersehen..."

_Wonder why she wants to know,_ I thought. I barely noticed her repeating the German phrase several times under her breath. My interest was really piqued, but I didn't ask her about it. The rest of the walk remained silent, conversation wise.

Surprisingly, my side didn't start hurting as we neared the school. We slipped past the gates and crossed the gardens, the dusk sky giving me the impression that the sunset would be quite the spectacle there. At the dorms, I handed Hanako her grocery bags.

"You sure you don't want me to take them up for you?" I asked, trying to be as gentlemanly as possible. Hanako nodded. "Alright, don't say I didn't offer. Anyway, I have to finish that trigonometry homework, so I'll see you tomorrow, Hanako."

Her lip was trembling, making me think I did something wrong. "A-a-a-a..." She sighed, before trying again. "A-a-auf wiedersehen." She pronounced it correctly, barring the stutter.

I smiled. "Guten nacht, Hanako," I said. She looked at me quizzically. I smiled again. "Night."

She had the faintest trace of a smile on her lips as we parted ways. I walked back to my dorm room, still wondering why she wanted to know what 'auf Wiedersehen' meant. _Maybe she likes learning languages,_ I thought. _It is fun, speaking in different languages. _As if to prove my point to myself, I spoke aloud.

"Vam nravitsya eta." _Like this._ I was glad I knew Russian and German. I still am.

I walked into my room and contemplated doing my trig homework. I knew I should, but I didn't want to. I already took the class, so I had no reason to retake it. I thought about hanging out with Hisao. _Better than trig,_ I thought as I walked to his dorm room.

I knocked several times. No answer each time. I heard another door open.

"He left a while ago," Kenji said.

"Any idea where to?" I asked.

He shrugged indifferently. His lips then contorted into a scowl. "Probably with that legless bitch."

I stifled a laugh. He let his thoughts be known, albeit in a profane and rude way. That's why it was funny.

"Thanks for the info, Kenji," I said, about to leave to the track. "By the way, how's your hangover?"

He groaned at the mention of the hangover. "Horrible. But so worth it."

"I'll bet," I said, not wanting to get into a discussion about how manly whiskey was and that it could destroy feminism. "See you later."

"See ya." He disappeared back into his Man Cave.

A couple of guys were in the common room, watching TV. Giving them indifferent nods, and receiving them back, I headed to the track. The sky was still a nice shade of orange.

Cutting across the grounds at a power walking speed, I made it to the track. People were leaving from what must have been a track meet. I was going to find Hisao when a voice rang out.

"Hey, Riese!"

It was a girl's voice. Whoever it was, she didn't know me that well since she used my surname. Damn Japanese honorifics.

I looked around to reply when I saw the purple-haired girl without a hand standing next to me.

"Yes, uh..." I didn't know her name and I wasn't going to say 'handless girl.'

"Miura. Miki Miura," the girl said, introducing herself. "We're in the same class."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know." I looked at her hand, noticing it was still bandaged. "So, uh, what did you want?"

"A couple of things, actually."

"Shoot."

"One, I noticed you hanging around with Hanako. That's nice. She needs someone other than Lilly. Two, what are you doing here? Want to join the track team?"

Emi asked me to do the same thing. "I might," I said, not securing my position on the matter. I didn't want it becoming another Student Council deal.

"Cool. Three, I don't know, I just wanted to say three. Anyway, what does bring you here?"

"I was looking for Hisao. You know, Nakai."

"Oh, him. Emi's new toy," she said that with a hint of displeasure towards Emi. I didn't exactly get the idea that Emi and Hisao were dating, especially after only knowing each other for a few days. "Yeah, he's over there." She jabbed her stump towards the hillside beside the track.

"Thanks," I said, starting to walk away. She seemed pretty relaxed, so I stopped and turned towards her. "Hey, Miura."

She had started walking away too, so she turned around. "Yeah?"

"You seem pretty cool. Want to hang out sometime?" _Way to go Adolf! Taking initiative! You barely even know her!_

She grinned a little. "You know what, that would be cool. Deal." She paused. "And call me Miki. Being formal is for gaylords."

I laughed. "Alright Miki, call me Adolf."

She nodded. "See you around, Adolf."

"See you, Miki," I said as we parted ways. I headed to the grassy knoll that Hisao was planted on. I saw a blur head back to the track, one that I guessed was Emi. I jogged over to Hisao.

"Hi-Hisao!" I gasped.

He looked at me. "Adolf? What are you doing here?"

I panted. "Good question."

He glanced down at the track. "You know if Emi se-"

"ADOLF!"

"Oh shit," I said in English. Emi stormed up to where Hisao and I stood. Her normally cute and cheery face was plagued by anger towards me.

"Just where were you this morning?" she huffed.

"Uh... sleeping?"

"Not good! I have a schedule and dietary plan all worked out for you!"

"What? Why?"

"Well, it's actually from the nurse, but still! You shouldn't neglect such responsibilities!"

"Uh, Emi?"

"What?!"

I jumped back. "Well, you see, I wasn't informed of the schedule or anything." I was nearing a point of cracking. People yelling at me isn't a good thing for them.

Her anger quickly faded. "What do you mean?"

"I was never told about any sort of schedule or eating plan. Not like I'd follow a diet anyway."

She didn't notice the end of my comment. Instead, she turned towards Hisao. "Hisao, get him a copy of your schedule and diet."

"W-why?" Hisao asked, confused.

"Because!" Emi exclaimed. "It's basically the same thing for you two."

"Emi, I'll just get one tomorrow."

"No! You can't!"

"Why not? I'll be here tomorrow morning."

She considered what I said. Apparently, she was really worked up, even to the point of missing the obvious. She sighed in embarrassment. "Eh... okay, then. I guess I just went a little far." She smiled nervously.

"Okay, then," I mumbled, at a loss for words.

Emi's face twisted into a shocked expression. "Oh! I need to finish these laps!" She started to run off. "Remember to be here tomorrow you two!" she called when she was near the track.

I turned away, running my hand through my hair. "Chto za chert?" I said under my breath. _What the hell?_

"So, why are you here?" Hisao asked, not forgetting our interrupted conversation.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted to do something."

Hisao shook his head. "I've got homework."

"So do I, but it's not like I'm doing it," I said. "Well, I only have trigonometry homework, so... yeah."

"You don't like trigonometry, do you?" he asked. By then, we were already walking back to the dorms.

"No, I hate it," I replied, pure venom towards the form of arithmetic soaking my words. "I had it when I was a sophomore, a first-year here..." I paused, horrible memories of tenth grade coming back. "I almost failed it. I would have had to retake it, even if I did above average."

Hisao's eyes lit up. "You already had that class?"

"Don't get any ideas. I'm not helping you out."

He groaned, his head going down. "Why not, dude?" I couldn't let a bro down. _Why do you already consider him a bro? Dammit Adolf!_

"Fine, but only if it's not much."

He perked up. "Thanks, man."

"Don't mention it." Luckily for both me and him, the part of trigonometry that we had homework assigned for was something I was good at. Vectors.

We walked back to the dorms in relative silence, the sky getting darker only ever-so-slightly. Rin's mural looked funny in the light cast by the setting sun. Not like it wasn't funny looking in the first place...

Hisao and I walked back to our rooms, only to be greeted by Kenji.

"Sup dudes?" Kenji asked, still feeling hungover. It's not like it would have went away in less than half an hour, anyway.

"Not much, Kenji," I said. "I did retrieve Hisao, however."

Hisao had already bee-lined to his room. "Where was he?" the anti-feminist asked. "With the legless bitch?"

"Yes, he was."

"I knew it!" Kenji exclaimed. He started knocking on Hisao's door, which he had closed for some reason. "Hisao! Open up! Hisao!"

The door opened, revealing a slightly annoyed Hisao. He must have been changing, given his messy shirt. "What, Kenji?"

"I know you're hanging around with that prosthetic leg wearing whore! We've discussed this. Tell me, Hisao. What are her plans?"

"What do you mean, 'her plans?'"

Kenji groaned. "Her plans!" Hisao raised an eyebrow. Kenji was face-to-face with Hisao, so he saw it. "Her feminist plans! Goddamn, dude."

"I don't know Kenji," Hisao said, probably thinking of a way out. "She hasn't revealed any plans to me, at least not yet."

Kenji nodded. "I may have not misjudged you Hisao. You seem okay again." He glanced around. "Alright, I'll see you dudes later." He slipped into his room swiftly. _How many times is it that he's done that?_ I wondered. I ducked into my room to grab my trig book. I walked back into the hall.

"Okay, Hisao. Let me see how much homework you have," I said, walking into Hisao's room.

I glanced around, noting how barren it was. There was a mini-fridge and a desk, but no TV. He had numerous pill bottles set out on his nightstand. It was a rather bland room.

"You don't have a TV?" I asked.

Hisao shook his head. "Why, do you?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"I don't know why," he said, shrugging. "Anyway, here." He reached into his bag and pulled out his trigonometry homework. "I have about fifteen problems left." He pointed them out.

"Fifteen?" I asked, looking over the questions in my book. Most dealt with magnitudes, dot products, and unit vectors. _As a matter of fact, _I thought, _I already have these done!_

"What?" Hisao asked.

My face must have lit up or something. "I already have these done," I said.

"Really? Can I see them?"

"Sure," I said, reaching into the book and handing him my answer sheet. I just kept papers in the books for their respective class. Lazy, but effective. "Just give it back before class tomorrow."

"Alright, Adolf. Thanks."

"No problem. Now, if you excuse me, I'll be off."

We exchanged goodbyes and I walked into my room. I wasn't particularly tired, but I also had nothing to do. I walked back out and knocked on Kenji's door after remembering something.

Multiple locks were undone before the door opened. "What?"

"Hey Kenji, I got a question," I said.

"Adolf, I may or may not have an answer. Wait, how could I have both? Those damn fem-"

"Kenji, listen. Where can I get my uniforms cleaned?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Because... I'm almost out of clean uniforms?"

Kenji sighed. "You are a brave man. Those washing machines are horrible machines, man. In the feminists' pockets, but you are going to tango with one, yes?"

I was confused, but I nodded.

"There are a couple places. The school basement, for one. Then there's the basement of the dorms. And I think there's a laundromat in town, but it's a feminist front. Don't want to go there without the proper equipment."

"Uh, okay. Thanks, Kenji."

He grinned. "Don't mention it. Make sure you kick their feminist asses!" He turned to go back into his room, complaining about his headache.

I shook my head and grabbed my already worn uniforms from out of my room. I decided to check the dorm basement, surprised that the dorm had a basement. Sure enough, there were washing and drying machines there, so I utilized them. It seemed as though the laundry room was shared by both dorms, because when I went to sit, I saw a blue haired girl sleeping in one of the chairs.

_She looks familiar... Is she in my class?_ I thought. _She has to be. She is_. She was the girl who always slept, not even causing Mutou to bat an eye. I tried to shake her awake, unsure if she meant to sleep there or not. I kept shaking until she opened an eye.

"Huh?" she moaned, obviously sleepy.

"Hi," I said. "I saw you asleep on the chair and I thought you fell asleep on accident."

"No," she said drowsily. "It wasn't on accident." She lazily looked me over. "Who are you?"

"Riese. Adolf Riese."

"Right," she yawned. "The American." _She's the girl from my class all right._

"Might I ask who you are?"

"You may." She reminded me of Rin. Just in the way she said that. She certainly didn't seem scatterbrained or detached from reality, just a little bit of a smartass.

"Who are you, then?"

"Suzu. Suzu Suzuki." She yawned again. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go back to sleep."

Before I could say anything, she had already drifted off. _Interesting,_ I thought. _Wonder if she's a heavy sleeper or she has some sort of condition._ 'Some sort of condition.' Of course she had one, why else would she have been there?

I got bored quickly and decided to run back upstairs and grab my Japanese book. I ran back down to the basement. Suzuki was still there, sleeping. Yawning as I waited for my clothing to be washed, I flipped through the vocabulary reviews just to pass the time. However, I got really annoyed with having to set the book in my lap, so I started to pace back and forth. When the washing machine was done, I took out the uniforms and put them in one of the dryers. They were pre-shrunk, so it was okay if I tumble dried them.

Pacing back and forth again, I picked up the Japanese book and started drumming one hand on it as I paced. I eventually stopped and sat down, drumming my hands on it. Once that got boring, I tried to wake Suzuki up again.

"What is it, Miki?" she asked, slowly waking up after fifty or so shakes.

"Uh, it's Adolf," I responded.

She sighed. Not one of exasperation or disappointment, though. It was one of relief. "What do you want?"

_Why did I wake her up? Nicht gut, Adolf! Think, think..._

"You have anything in the washers or dryers?" I asked. _Nice save, bro._

She had to think for a minute. "Yes, I think. Maybe it was that washer." She pointed at a machine. "That one."

I got up and walked towards it. When I opened it, I saw that, indeed, there were girls' uniforms. I took them out and put them into the dryer. I walked back over to Suzuki and sat down.

"Thank you," she said, still drowsy.

"You're welcome, Suzuki." Formalities got on my nerves.

"Just call me Suzu. I'll call you Adolf."

"Seems like a deal, Suzu." I smiled.

She sleepily returned the sentiment. "Now, I'd like it if you didn't wake me up again, Adolf. I'll be fine."

"Alright, then." Just then, the dryer my clothes were in stopped. "I'll see you around, Suzu."

"Ditto, Adolf," Suzu replied, clearly drifting off to sleep.

I grabbed my clothes and headed back to my room. _What an interesting girl,_ I thought. _Still wonder why she's so tired._ I walked into my room and hung up the uniforms in the closet. I looked out the window and noticed that the sky was getting dark.

_How long was I down there?_

I set off to brush my teeth, Suzu's sleepiness having an odd effect on me. I lied down in my bed and drifted to sleep shortly after, having already stripped to my skivvies.

About four in the morning, I had to pee, so I got up and went to the bathroom. Upon returning to my room, I saw Hisao leaving his.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To take a walk," Hisao said. "I couldn't sleep, so I'm just going to walk around the track." I looked at him again, noticing that he was already wearing his running clothes.

"Alright, man. I'll be there at six-thirty, then," I said, planning on getting more sleep.

"Alright, see you then." Hisao then power-walked away.

I walked back into my room, flopping on the bed like I had done so pretty much every night before. Lying on top of the sheets, I drifted off rather quickly. I made some new friends, somehow. It was a good day.

* * *

**AN: I have written a lot of original dialogue for this chapter. More than previous chapters. I also would like to say, don't think you know what's going to happen in this story. It is, for all intents and purposes, a wildcard kind of story. Don't assume. Also, I appreciate any reviews that come in, as they help me think of ideas and offer me positive reinforcement. Oh, and the chapter title is supposed to be lame. Finally, Act II's title is tentatively "Follow You, Follow Me." Just felt like throwing it out there. In case you don't know what "tentatively" means, it means that it can change. Again, please review and thanks for reading!**


	10. Mood Swings and Chinese

Chapter Ten: Mood Swings and Chinese

I woke up at six, the alarm blaring in my ear. A swift Falcon Punch to the snooze button silenced it. At least until it sounded again because I forgot to turn it off. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"Why did I agree to this?" I said aloud in English.

I got up and brushed my teeth before changing into my makeshift running clothes. I walked out of the door and stopped at Hisao's door. I knocked.

"Hisao, you up?" I said through the door, in Japanese.

I got no answer. I knocked again, asked again, and received nothing again. I gave up, thinking he might have left earlier to the track. I strolled out of the dorm building, my eyes straining to the light change.

I walked across the grounds, the track once again my goal. On the way, I couldn't help but think back to my short talk with Miki. I barely knew her, barely even spoke to her, yet I asked if she wanted to hang out. And she agreed.

_Kenji's right,_ I thought. _This school has many dark and ominous secrets._

Another thing that still got me was that she still had her stump bandaged. Why was it still bandaged after a week? She had to have been at the school since the beginning of the school year. Maybe even longer, but the bandage still confused me.

What also puzzled me was what Miki and I were going to do, provided we hung out. I wondered what we could possibly do, but that thought took a backseat as I started walking through the grass towards the track. My primary thought then was about the dew that was saturating my feet. As I rounded the hill to the track, I spotted Hisao and Emi talking, Hisao sitting on the bleachers. I jogged to the bleachers with some speed.

"Sounds like something Rin would say," I heard Emi say to Hisao.

"What does?" I asked as I neared the two.

Emi looked at me, surprised I showed up. "I'm surprised you came," Emi said, somewhat pleased that I did so. "Did you know Hisao fell asleep out here?"

I shook my head. "I know he came out a couple hours ago for a walk, though."

Hisao nodded. "Told you."

Emi pushed him. "You said you were watching the sun rise."

Before the two could continue, I interrupted. "Uh, so, are we running? Or did I get up this early to talk?"

Emi grinned. "Well, we are running!" She shot a glance at Hisao. "Since you couldn't get any sleep, we need to run you even harder!"

"Hey, my body was plenty exhausted after yesterday," Hisao said defensively. "My mind was just racing."

I looked at Emi seriously. "He was tired yesterday. I had to help him get out of his chair twice."

Emi giggled, but then gave Hisao a confused look. "Hisao, I don't see the difference. If you run hard enough, your brain will get tired, too."

Hisao's eyes glazed over in thought. _Likely questioning why he's doing this,_ I reasoned.

Emi pulled Hisao up and started towards the track. "Come on you two!" she called. "We have work to do!"

"I don't know..." Hisao said, causing Emi to turn around. "Should I really be running?"

Emi glared at him. "What are you talking about? Of course you should be running! How else do you expect to work out the -?" _Great,_ I thought. _Just when I thought I could understand everyone._

"Work out the what?" I asked. Emi repeated what she said, only to be met with a raised eyebrow from me.

"I don't know, knots or something!" she exclaimed, turning her attention back to Hisao. "Plus, you've been sleeping on the bleachers, for heaven's sake! The best way to get that soreness out is to run around a little. Now stop hiding in the bleachers and get down here!"

Emi seemed pissed at Hisao and I wasn't planning on saying anything. _Best to back the hell up before you get smacked the hell up,_ I thought. _And she could have just said he could work out the soreness, rather than the 'knots.' That makes no sense._

Reluctantly, Hisao got up and tumbled to the track. He didn't really tumble, because Emi and I would have taken him to the nurse a second time. Well, I know I would had he fell. I wasn't so sure about Emi.

Without wasting any time, Emi got us started stretching, something I hadn't done in a while. I followed her lead, but I couldn't say the same about Hisao. He seemed to be staring at Emi in a perverse way.

Emi noticed it. "You know Hisao, it's not polite to stare." She glared at him.

"I wasn't staring!" Hisao exclaimed, his face clearly showing he was full of crap. "I swear!"

Emi seemed to believe him, considering his answer. "Honestly," she said, laughing. "You didn't have to deny it so strenuously." _Good, I thought you actually fell for his lie._

Eager to move on, Hisao clapped his hands. "So! That's enough stretching, right?" We barely even stretched.

"Do you feel stretched?" Emi asked following a shrug. "That's really how you tell."

Hisao nodded his head. "Yeah, I feel ready to go."

Emi looked at me. "Adolf?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I can go, I guess." I wasn't exactly sure about it, but I didn't want to drag the group down.

"Same as yesterday, okay Hisao?" Emi said.

"Uh, what did you do yesterday?" I asked.

"A mile followed by some cool-down laps," Emi explained. "Neither of you worry about speed. Worry about pacing, understand?"

"You're the boss," Hisao said. Emi grinned, taking off ahead of us.

"Ready?" I asked Hisao. He nodded.

We started running, me faring much better than Hisao. Similar to the other two times I ran with the two, Hisao brought up the rear, I was the middle man, and Emi led the charge. We were nearing the first lap and I could hear Hisao's labored breathing. _He's really out of shape, _I thought.

Emi seemed to notice when Hisao made his first lap. "Come on, Hisao! You've got three more to go!" she exclaimed, running backwards effortlessly. _How the hell is she running backwards?_ I thought. Seriously, that was hard to believe. She maintained her speed. She _maintained_ it. Even if she did it before, that was the first time I really noticed.

We kept running. I shot a glance back at Hisao when I rounded a corner, only to see him struggling. I prevented myself from sighing, as that would have messed up my rhythm. By the time Emi and I made the second lap, Emi wasn't sweating at all. Hisao looked as though he was going to be sweating his entire supply of bodily fluids.

Hisao crossed the line, starting his third lap. I was glad he didn't start sprinting, given how that went down. Emi noticed that he started his third lap, turning around mid-stride.

"Almost there, Hisao!" she called. _Halfway isn't exactly almost, Emi,_ I thought as she turned back around.

I was still surprised that she could run backwards as fast and easily as she ran normally. What also baffled me was her ability to do so when she was running and how fluidly she did it. Halfway through the third lap, I broke a slight sweat. It felt good, cooling my skin, despite the fact it was early in the morning. Emi still didn't seem to break a sweat.

"I... ca... can't... do... this," I heard Hisao choke out in-between labored breaths.

Upon hearing him, Emi turned around so quick, you would have though she was challenged to some sort of duel or battle. She kept on running, basically yelling across the track.

"Never say that!" Emi shouted, her face expressing anger. "If you say that, you'll have already lost." She moved to the left a little. "Keep moving! If you're alive, you can keep moving, dammit!"

Emi didn't strike me as the kind of girl to swear. She seemed too cheery and girl-like. I actually expected Hanako to swear a lot. Quiet people tend to do that.

Hisao kept running, despite what his body was likely protesting. _Hisao, stop! Hisao, what are you doing? Hisao! Stop! _I imagined his body saying. Then he likely gave his body the middle finger. The silly thought made me smile, but I didn't break stride.

Hisao seemed to drag behind a little more once Emi and I made it on the fourth lap. Once Hisao crossed the line, Emi once again spun around, not tripping and breaking her neck somehow. _Seriously, how does she do that?_ I thought.

"Final stretch, Hisao! Give it all you've got!" Emi called. She then turned to me. "You too, Adolf! Even though I haven't been riding you as hard." She promptly spun around and raced to the finish.

Not wanting to let Emi have all the fun, I raced her. It was risky, but I was sure enough that my heart wouldn't give out. If I was Hisao, maybe it would. I glanced back at Hisao and saw he was still struggling, but I didn't watch any longer.

I started sprinting. As the final corner came up, I was side-by-side with Emi. She glanced at me and sped up, something I returned. Emi and I essentially tied with each other.

"Why... why did you do that?" Emi asked, putting her hands behind her head as we started our cool down laps.

The sprint took out a lot of my breath, so I struggled to reply. "Why... are... your... hands behind... your head?" I asked.

"Helps you breathe," the legless runner replied.

I put my hands behind my head. Surprisingly, it worked. Regaining some breath, I went to talk, but Emi wasn't paying attention. She was looking down the track, towards Hisao. She started lightly jogging back.

"That's it, Hisao!" she happily exclaimed. "I knew you had it in you!"

I jogged to catch up. "Why don't I..." I breathed. "Get that kind of praise?"

Emi looked at me. "You're not having trouble running, now are you?"

"No," I grumbled. "I still don't see why I have to get up and run though."

Emi glared at me. "Because it's good for you!"

"I would like some praise, too, though!"

"But you don't deserve it!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're not struggling to complete a mile!"

"Well, no bu-"

I broke off. While Emi and I were bickering, Hisao fell to the ground, hand clutching his chest. I rushed over to my friend. Emi noticed me rushing over and saw Hisao on the ground as well. She rushed over along with me. Whole lot of rushing.

We each grabbed one of Hisao's arms and pulled up. Hisao's eyes opened to both of us standing over him. Emi's face was the bastard child of pleasure and fear. I just gave him a concerned look, one a friend would give.

"On your feet!" Emi ordered. Hisao gave her a puzzled look. "Come on, you'll never catch your breath that way."

_Aren't we taking him to the nurse?_ I thought. Then I remembered when Hisao collapsed the last time. It wasn't exactly pleasant for either of them. _So, no nurse._

Hisao struggled to his feet and raised his hands behind his head. He apparently was told that before me. We started to walk around the track, cooling off. I was walking next to Hisao as if he was going to collapse again, but I backed off. Emi seemed to have that under control.

"I feel like crap," Hisao grumbled. Emi laughed, for some reason.

"But you finished, didn't you?" Emi asked.

"I don't think finishing is that important when you collapse," I said, my voice low.

Emi looked at me, the pride she felt towards Hisao pushing himself visible all over her face. "He said he couldn't, Adolf. But he _did._" She looked back at Hisao, then to me. "Isn't that worth it?"

I nodded. "Well, he sure as hell is still breathing." _However labored, _I wanted to say. I felt the need to be on the defensive for Hisao, but I didn't think he needed it. If he did, he wouldn't have kept going when he knew he couldn't keep going. Emi had a point. Hisao pushed himself at his own risk, though she coaxed him on, and though he suffered a heart murmur, he survived.

We kept walking, silence looming around. I glanced at Hisao, noting a look of determination in his eyes, mixed with fatigue and pride. He seemed glad that he managed to run another mile, despite nearly offing himself in the process.

"Adolf, can you take Hisao?" Emi asked, mutilating the silence. Despite our little argument, she was still grinning. I felt bad for arguing with her. She seemed nice, something I wouldn't really have known, given my time spent with Lilly and Hanako. The pride she felt for Hisao also reminded me of what Miki said.

"_Oh, him. Emi's new toy."_ The bitterness in Miki's voice when she mentioned Emi still disturbed me. I wondered if there was some sort of bitter rivalry or something of the like between the two, similar to Shizune and Lilly.

"Adolf?" Emi repeated. Apparently I got lost in thought.

"Huh, what?" I asked. She jabbed a finger towards Hisao. "Oh, right. Sorry." I took position next to the worn Hisao as Emi sprinted off.

"I don't know how she does that," Hisao remarked as we continued our cool down walk.

"Neither do I," I said, observing the legless track member.

"You know, Adolf," Hisao said. "It's kind of weird. When she pushes herself, she's a completely different person. Just look at her face."

I tried to get a good look at Emi's face while she was sprinting. Sure enough, she seemed different. Instead of her normal silly grin, Emi wore determination all over her face. She also seemed to find pleasure in running, as if it fulfilled her.

"She seems to enjoy running," I said as we continued walking. "A lot."

"I know what you mean," Hisao replied. "She looks beautiful," I heard him mutter. I didn't pay any mind to it, going back to my own thoughts.

Emi also seemed to push others even harder when she pushed herself. While I never really held a casual conversation with her off of the track, Hisao did. From what he said about their conversation at lunch Friday, I figured that she still pushed people to work harder. However, it was more of a shove on the track, given her comments while she was running.

"By the way," Hisao said, knocking me away from my thoughts. People liked to do that. "You didn't need to try and stand up for me. I'm actually glad I did that."

"Alright, then," I said. "I won't. Though, seriously dude, you shouldn't push yourself so hard."

He nodded. "Okay, I'll try not to." I could tell by the tone of his voice that he wouldn't take my advice. I just shook my head. The two of us continued in silence, walking two laps while Emi ran several.

Emi met back up with us after she finished her cool-off sprints. "Not bad today, Hisao," she said. "You too, Adolf." She seemed proud that we ran so well, though she was more proud of Hisao, since I had little to no trouble doing it.

Hisao was fairly apprehensive. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I would have stopped if you hadn't yelled at me." _Where did his confidence go? His pride? He was so sure of himself not even ten minutes ago, _I thought.

Emi blushed, probably embarrassed. "Sorry about that, I just..." she seemed at a loss for words. "I just can't stand to see people give up." She bowed her head. "Especially about something like this."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Saying 'I can't go on' is silly when you're obviously going on while you're saying it," she replied, a small smile forming on her lips. "That's what this is all about."

"What, saying silly things?" Hisao asked.

Emi stuck her tongue out at Hisao. "Idiot," she said. "I mean showing that you're alive." She grinned. "Besides, this is one of the hardest days."

"What do you mean?" Hisao asked.

"Whenever you start a workout, it's difficult the first day, really hard the second day, and then the third day is easier. You'll still get days that are really hard, but they'll pop up less and less."

"So this will eventually get really easy, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I know first-hand what Emi is saying." Hisao raised an eyebrow, and so did Emi.

"What do _you_ mean?" Emi asked.

"Back in America, I played hockey," I said. "It's a very demanding sport."

Emi seemed surprised that I played hockey, but she nodded. "So I've heard." She then turned back to Hisao. "But no matter what, you'll never get ahead if you don't increase the difficulty of your workout. You'll just get -, and you'll lose the sense of accomplishment." I had a feeling that what she said that I didn't know wasn't important.

"So I'll have to run more than just four laps, huh?" Hisao asked.

"Of course you will," I said. "It's not any harder if you just run four laps."

Emi nodded. "But not for a while!" she exclaimed. "You still have to be careful." Emi thought for a second, the thought ending with the illumination of her face. "Got it!"

"What?" Hisao and I asked.

"You can come with me to see the nurse!" she said. "That way you won't fall over dead or anything!"

"Well, I'll be off, then," I said, trying to get away. It helped that I felt a churning in my stomach.

Emi scowled at me. "Ah, no! You're coming too!"

"Why?"

"To get your schedule!"

I looked at her seriously. "I have to use the bathroom and shower. Can't Hisao just give it to me in class?"

Hisao nodded. "Yeah, I could do that."

Emi wasn't pleased. "Fine," she said. Her face brightened up. "You should consider track, though."

_Here we go again,_ I thought. I shrugged "If only there was a hockey team," I mused aloud, walking away. "I'll talk to you two later!" I called. They waved goodbye, Emi visibly upset with me.

"When are we going?" I barely heard Hisao say, since I power walked away.

"Right now, of course!" Emi said.

I was on the pavement, starting to walk back to the dorms when Emi and Hisao ran past me. Hisao wasn't running so much as Emi was running and pulling him.

"What the hell?" I said in English as they whizzed past.

I shook my head and kept walking to the dorms. I glanced at my watch, confirming I had a good hour until class. Five minutes later, I was standing in front of the dorms. I walked in, wondering what Emi's obsession over our health, specifically Hisao's, was about.

_There's something going on there,_ I thought. Hisao smiling near Emi, Emi being protective of him. Sooner or later, I'd go to run in the morning and find them making out in the bleachers or on the track. Or worse...

Shuddering at that thought, I continued up the stairs, heading into the bathroom to use it. After that was done, I glanced at the mirror, noticing that there were some streaks on it. They formed Cyrillic lettering: Доброе утро. Why someone wrote "good morning" in Russian was beyond me, but I didn't dwell on it.

I hopped in the shower, not literally, and started to clean up. My back was always the first part of my body to sweat, so it was the grimiest. After fifteen minutes, I got out, dried off, put on my underwear, and went to my room.

I rummaged through the fridge, opting to eat a couple sandwiches for breakfast. I glanced at my collection of pills. Sighing, I took them before continuing my meal. The sandwiches were just bologna and salami with some cheese, but they were good nonetheless.

I still had a good half-hour before class would start, but I didn't feel like brushing up on my Japanese. I had nothing to really do, so I made another sandwich. As I was doing so, I heard footsteps rapidly pass by my room. I set down the half-made sandwich and opened my door, peering out. I barely caught sight of Hisao entering the bathroom.

I closed the door and continued making the sandwich. I ate the third sandwich quickly, but I felt better afterward. After five more minutes, I decided to put on my uniform. I was planning on going to homeroom ten minutes before it started, so I waited another five minutes.

I heard more running outside my room and figured it was Hisao. I hadn't completed the second five minute wait, so I decided to make another sandwich to pass the time. I just made the sandwich when there was pounding on my door.

"What, Hisao?" I asked.

"Are you going to class?" he asked.

"I should ask you that, since you're likely worn out."

"Maybe, but we should get a move on."

"Alright, give me a second." I didn't shove my sandwich into my mouth, instead grabbing my wallet. _Might pick up a drink on the way,_ I thought. I slung my bag on and opened the door. I was met by Hisao staring at my sandwich.

"What are you eating?" he asked.

"A sandwich," I replied, matter-of-factly.

He shook his head. "Never mind. Let's go." We left the dorms, me taking the occasional bite from the sandwich.

"So," I started, following a bite. "How did your visit go?"

"Fine," Hisao replied. "Other than the fact that the nurse and Emi have known each other much longer than I thought." I raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask, I promised I wouldn't say anything more."

I nodded. "Fair enough. You have my schedule?"

He nodded. "I'll give it to you in homeroom."

"My trigonometry work?"

Again, he nodded. "Homeroom."

"Gut," I said in German. He raised another eyebrow, reminding me that speaking in German or Russian wasn't a good idea at this school. "Good," I translated. Hisao just nodded in acknowledgment.

I had finished my sandwich by the time we neared the courtyard. "Ah, that was good," I commented.

"What exactly was on that sandwich?" Hisao asked.

"Bologna, salami, and cheese," I replied. His head reared back. "It's not bad, you just have to try it."

"Maybe," Hisao said, not reassuring at all.

"Whatever, man," I said. "You eating on the roof again?"

"Most likely, why?"

"No reason, just asked."

"Oh. Are you eating with Hanako and Lilly again?" By then, we had already entered the building and were walking up the stairs.

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't want to drink tea again, that's for sure."

"You should eat with the council, then."

I laughed. "Very funny, Hisao." We reached the third floor.

"I know, thank you." He made a lazy bow.

The conversation stopped as we neared 3-3. I opened the door and walked in, Hisao closing it behind us. I hadn't noticed earlier in the morning, but it was quite warm, as is to be expected of June days. When we sat down, Hisao handed me back my trig and he handed me the schedule. I looked it over.

"Does she think I need to be ran as rigorously as you do?" I asked Hisao, the schedule full of running. Every. Single. Morning.

"Hey, I don't like it anymore than you."

"Still, this is ridiculous," I said. "I got up at six every morning in America just to go to school. I am not doing it just to run."

"She'll be breathing down your neck, you know that."

"So?"

"Just go through with it this week, okay? Go to her track meet Sunday and we'll decide how to go on from there."

"Sounds like we're doing some sort of anti-feminist attack with Kenji," I said. "But okay. I'll do that."

The class was actually full when we entered, so there weren't any newcomers. Even Hanako was on time.

I found myself staring out the window, longing to go outside. The weird thing about Japan was that it actually made me want to go outside. Back home, I didn't want to go outside. Sure, I played hockey, but that didn't impact me not wanting to go outside. I preferred staying inside, being left to my own devices. That wasn't the case in Japan. I actually felt the urge to go outside and do stuff, but I was met with the same problem I had when I got that feeling in the United States.

_What am I going to even do?_

The question always popped up, so that's why I started playing hockey. Not only because I liked the sport, but because it was something to do. I started to seriously wonder if there was a hockey team at Yamaku, but I doubted it. Disabled kids trying to play something that requires all four limbs as well as the endurance needed to keep playing... _Not going to happen._

It seemed everyone was yearning to go outside. Well, Hanako and Hisao aside. Hisao fell asleep, though I suspected he was staring at Misha's chest, since she had the top part of her shirt unbuttoned due to the heat. Hanako obviously wouldn't enjoy being in the company with random people outside, though I suspected she would enjoy quiet walks in the woods. She just seemed like that type.

The class passed, no one really paying Mutou any attention. He gave up and sat down, scribbling work on the board. I was glad, however, when he collected the trigonometry work. I tried paying attention, but my attention was quickly diverted by my own thoughts.

The lunch bell rang, causing everyone to get up and go. Excluding Hisao, who I had to wake up yet again. He really wasn't in shape, falling asleep like that. I was no better, though that was three years prior.

"What?" he mumbled.

"Lunch," I replied lazily, deciding on what to do.

"Oh damn," he said, quickly stumbling to his feet. "Thanks."

I nodded. "No problem."

He ran out the door, likely heading for the roof. I wasn't sure why he went to the roof, let alone why people ate lunch there. It was another quirk I hadn't experienced in the United States. Lunch always meant being stuck in a cafeteria or lunch detention. You couldn't go get food from outside of school. _Maybe that was just my school,_ I thought.

I just got up and headed for the door, unsure of what to do when Hanako grabbed my attention. I hadn't noticed she was still in the room.

"A... Adolf?" she shyly said.

"Oh, hello Hanako," I said. "Beautiful weather, right?"

"Um... Y-yes, it is," she said. I looked at her hands, noticing a bag. _I really didn't want to go to lunch with her today, but I'm sort of screwed. _"W-would you like to have lunch with us again?"

I didn't groan, no matter how much I wanted to. The room was relaxing, but I wanted to do something else. What, I wasn't sure of. I just didn't want to go there.

"I... I brought enough for everyone..." Hanako said, smiling a little. _Is she blushing?_ I thought upon closer analysis. _By Jove, she is! Dammit, she found out my weakness, abort, abort!_ The smile/blush combo pulled me in.

"Sure thing," I said. I already knew we were going to the tea room, so asking would have been a waste of breath.

"Lilly said she'll meet us in there, so we should... should..."

"Should what?" I asked.

"...should go ahead together..." she finished, smiling and blushing, thus delivering a final blow to my defense.

"All right then, let's be off," I said. _Kenji is definitely onto something,_ I thought, not even bothering to push the thought away. It just seemed logical.

Hanako and I walked to the tea room in silence, a usual occurrence. The room held its normal relaxing atmosphere. Lilly wasn't there, but Hanako started to set up, nonetheless. She was very calculated in doing so, like she was trying to keep her mind off of something. She didn't bring much, but she seemed to have took her time in preparing it.

I wondered if we should have started without Lilly, but I saw Hanako fighting with a container of rice. I wasn't fond of rice.

"Let me see that," I said.

She handed it over and I tried opening it. It felt like it could be opened, but in doing so, I would send rice flying everywhere. I looked around for a butter knife.

"Hanako, do you have a butter knife?" I asked.

She nodded and handed me a butter knife. It was a metal one, thankfully. I wedged the knife underneath the container, slowly moving my way around until the lid popped off.

"There," I said. It wasn't a top-notch job, but it got the job done.

"T-thank you," Hanako said, setting it up as well.

"How about I contribute to today's meal?" Lilly asked as she walked in. She was smiling and holding a bag full of bread. "I thought I would bring something."

I helped Lilly place the bread near Hanako's dish while Hanako made tea. Again with the tea.

"Well," I said as I took a seat. "This should be good."

I took a bite of the food Hanako made, but in doing so, I noticed she was attempting to not seem like she was staring at me. She was awaiting an opinion. In my humble opinion, the food could clearly have been better. It was a six point five out of ten.

"I'd say it's good," I said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth. I actually couldn't complain, since the most I made for myself were sandwiches. "You made this with the stuff you bought at the store, right?" I noticed Lilly started eating after I said that.

Hanako nodded, her eyes begging me for more feedback. The looks she gave me were too much. They made me feel bad for not wanting to eat lunch with them.

I thanked her for the food, saying she did a fine job. She seemed to accept it graciously.

"I... I wanted to show you this... after yesterday..." she said. I almost forgot that I asked to see her cooking.

"Hanako's always liked to experiment when it comes to food," Lilly said. "I think it's good... most... of the time." The pauses she made give me the feeling that Hanako's cooking could have been a zero out of ten at one point. _Maybe that's why Lilly waited for me to take a bite,_ I thought.

"Well, what matters is that it's good, right?" I said.

"R-right," Hanako agreed.

While Lilly and Hanako ate with chopsticks, I ate with a good old fashioned fork. Lilly was very thorough with her chopsticks, carefully skimming around for her food before picking it up.

I decided that I should eat, since the food would get cold. Not to mention how bad I predicted I would feel if Hanako gave me a sad look for not eating the food. I couldn't bear such a thought, so I dug in.

* * *

It wasn't long until we were done. I felt full, surprisingly. All of the containers were empty, and I found myself eating numerous bread rolls. I didn't even bother taking any tea, instead saying I wasn't thirsty.

"Thank you Hanako," Lilly said when she had finished. "That was filling."

"T-t-thank you for the bread," Hanako said.

"You're quite welcome," Lilly replied, her hand touching her lips. "But now, I must be getting back. It's far too easy to be late after eating here."

"I understand," I said. "We can clean up." Hanako nodded, realizing that Lilly couldn't tell a little late. _Must've rubbed off on her somehow._

Lilly rose. "Well then, good day." She promptly left, her cane tapping along the wall.

Hanako and I put everything away. She sat back down and stared into the sky. I was keen on leaving, but that didn't happen. I sat back down, looking into the sky as well. It was quite the sight, but not something I could stare at. The bell rang, so I glanced at Hanako, my impatience growing.

"Not... just yet..." she said. I was starting to feel the impatience head into my feet. They would tap every so often. I couldn't remember if I took the Vyvanse or what. _Probably not,_ I concluded. Not taking them for a while makes you adjust, but suddenly taking them and skipping a dose messes you up.

The bells rang again, signifying that we should return to class, lest the Japanese and American militaries have to go on a global manhunt.

"We should go," I told Hanako. "Who knows what will happen if we don't show up..." _More or less about me, since it seems fine for you to do so,_ I thought. I wondered why I was thinking so darkly, but I couldn't dwell on it.

Hanako sighed. "You're right."

She rose to her feet and we walked to 3-3 in relative silence. I once again took point for Hanako, opting not to say anything to Mutou. He seemed to be fine with Hanako being late, and, subsequently, anyone who accompanied her. When we walked in, Mutou was nowhere to be found, but the sound of numerous students stifling laughs was everywhere. I couldn't see why.

Misha led the pack, her stifled laughs the loudest. After numerous failed attempts to prevent herself from laughing, she gave in. "The lovers return!" she exclaimed after laughing for a solid ten seconds. She proceeded to laugh some more.

"You can stop now, Misha," I said. _So damn immature,_ I ruefully thought.

Hanako was basically embracing my back once more, using me as a human shield. I started to head back to my seat. She eventually broke off and made a stiff run to her seat, doing her best to ignore everyone. I felt bad and started to have a guilt trip, so I swiftly stopped at Hanako's desk after she sat down.

"Sorry, Misha's like that," I whispered. "Everything was really nice today." I tried to think of myself as not lying, but I was. And I was doing it right. It wasn't like I held a grudge towards Hanako, I just wanted to spend some time with some other people.

Hanako nodded to affirm that she understood. Mutou walked in the room then, giving me the perfect cover to make a mad dash back to my seat. Mutou himself was halfway through his lecture, oddly.

"...which, of course, is directly proportional to the charge but inversely proportional to the square of the distance..." was all I really made out from what he said.

Misha leaned to me when I was getting comfortable in my seat. "The teacher may not have noticed your tardiness, but I did," she whispered.

"You and everyone else," I replied, my words tainted with displeasure.

"I have been instructed to let you off the hook for today," she continued. "But only on one condition."

"I have to help the council, huh?" Misha nodded, grinning. I glared at her. "No."

"What?"

"No," I repeated. "I'm not helping you two out."

Misha frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, I think I've done enough, especially for a foreign student."

Misha thought for a moment, then signed to Shizune. Shizune signed back and Misha translated their agreement. "It's okay, Adolf-chan! We were only going to eat cake anyway, so more cake for us!" _Seriously?_

I turned around to attempt to pay attention when Hisao tapped my arm. "What?" I asked.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," I replied. "I guess that they think Hanako and I are dating, or something."

Hisao nodded. "It seems like it."

I completely turned towards him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you're always together. Going to lunch toge-"

"Don't even act like you don't do the same with Emi," I interrupted.

Hisao opened his mouth to reply, but shut it. He was right though. I was with Hanako an awful lot, even though I had planned on being somewhere other than the tea room. I didn't want to make the impression on people that I was trying to make moves on Hanako, Misha being my case-in-point.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. _Maybe distancing yourself from her some will help,_ I thought. It was a good plan. I doubted she could have become attached to me that quick anyway, implying she did become attached to me.

The thoughts of basically telling Hanako to piss off really unnerved me. Maybe the thoughts were induced by the ADHD or the bipolar or something. I certainly didn't know, nor was I going to fight it. I only got worse that way.

Class passed by rather quickly, much to my pleasure. Hisao had fallen asleep once more, making me question the logic behind the morning runs. Misha and Shizune had already gone off to eat cake or something. Hanako already left, amazingly. However, Miki and Suzu were still hanging around.

I woke Hisao up, letting him know class was over. He thanked me, but stayed seated. Miki noticed me still staying in the room.

"Hey Adolf!" she said. "Come here!"

I nodded, and walked the extremely short distance to her and Suzu. I should have guessed the two were friends, since Suzu did say Miki's name when I roused her from her slumber the previous night.

"Hello Adolf," Suzu said sleepily.

"Hi Suzu, hi Miki. Anyway, what did you want?" I asked when I covered the LONG walk. It wasn't long at all.

"You remember what you asked me yesterday?" she asked. I nodded. "Well, why not now?"

I shrugged. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

Miki shrugged. "I don't know, maybe go grab a bite to eat?"

"Shanghai?" I asked.

"What you don't like it there?" she asked.

"I never-"

"It's okay, I'm pissing with you," she said. "Nah, I meant somewhere in the city."

Sendai was too far away. The only other city I knew of near Yamaku wasn't as large, but I couldn't remember the name.

"Alright," I said. "I'm game." I had nothing better to do. Plus, I did ask her to hang out.

Miki grinned. "Hey Suzu, you wanna come?"

Suzu shook her head. "No," she said. "I'm just gonna go sleep."

"Now you sound like Hisao," I said.

Miki had a chuckle, but Suzu wasn't really affected. I guess she really was tired. Suzu sleepily walked out of the room.

"What..." I mumbled.

"I'll explain later," Miki said, grabbing hold of my hand with her only hand. "Come on!"

She dragged me with her out of the class, so I started running, too. We stopped running once we neared the gates, people giving us odd glances. It was then that both of us realized we were still holding hands.

I quickly retracted my hand, my face burning red. "Sorry, sorry," I said. "Forgot that we were... still... you know..."

Miki didn't seem embarrassed. Instead, she laughed. "It's fine, I didn't realize it either."

We shared a short laugh. "So, what are we waiting for?" I asked.

"The city bus, duh," she said, as if the American student would know that. "It should be here soon."

"Okay, then," I said. There was a period of silence, but the sound of a bus ascending a hill reverberated throughout the quiet landscape outside Yamaku.

Miki grinned. "There it is!"

The bus rounded the hill and turned to allow passengers. We weren't the only ones boarding the bus, but I didn't recognize anyone who was. Miki got on before I did, not because I was being a gentleman, but because she was in front of me.

Miki took a seat near the middle of the bus, patting the seat for me to sit. I did so, feeling a little awkward. There I was, sitting on a bus to the city with an attractive girl I barely knew. The bus pulled out once everyone was onboard.

We started down the hill towards the town. There was a silence between Miki and I. Said silence was quite awkward, making me regret getting on the bus with the handless girl.

"So, Miki," I tried starting a conversation. "What's Suzu's deal?" Miki hesitated. "I'm sorry I didn't me-"

"No, it's fine," Miki said. "I mean, you can see I don't have a hand, right? Suzu has -." I didn't understand what she said at first, but I replayed it in my head.

_Narukorepushī,_ I thought. _Sounds like narcolepsy._

"Isn't that a sleep disorder?" I asked. Miki nodded. _So it is narcolepsy._ Cognates. Gotta love 'em.

"Yeah, that's why she sleeps a lot," Miki said. She eyed me over. "That's why she went back to her dorm room. She'd rather fall asleep there than while she's out and about."

"Makes sense," I said.

Miki yawned and started to doze off. "Wake me up when we get into the city," she said before she fell asleep. She had her head propped up on the back of the seat, her hair lazily floating around with every bump we hit. She was alluring.

"Dammit," I said in English, under my breath. Sighing, I wondered why Kenji seemed right more and more with each passing hour. The mere thought of Kenji made me slightly paranoid. _Did he see me leave? _I thought. _If so, I need another excuse._ Gathering intel on "possible feminists" seemed to be a good idea.

About half an hour passed and we were in the city. I wasn't sure if it was normally that quick, or if the lack of traffic was a likely culprit. Nonetheless, I roused Miki from her sleep.

"Miki, we're here," I said as I shook her.

Her eyes shot open. "Huh what where?" she quickly asked.

"We're in the city."

She looked out the window. "Damn, we are. Thanks." I got up and offered her a hand. She took it and I pulled her up. "You're such a gentleman, Adolf." She said it in a playful tone.

"Thank you, Miss Miura," I said, playing along. "Now, you first."

She started to walk ahead, but she turned around and lightly smacked me in the stomach, grinning. "Thank you, Mister Riese."

We got off of the bus. I didn't know a damn thing about where we were, but Miki knew exactly where to go.

"Follow me," she said, slowly jogging through the streets. I followed her closely. We jogged for a good ten minutes or so before coming to some sort of establishment that Miki stopped in front of.

"Here we are," she said. "I hope you brought some money."

I nodded. "Yeah, I did."

She grinned. "Good. Let's go."

We walked into the restaurant- I assumed it was one- and I looked around. It seemed to be a small Chinese restaurant. A takeout place, at that.

"Chinese?" I asked.

Miki nodded. "What, is Chinese food too good for an American like you?" She had a playful grin on her face.

"Yeah," I said, being playfully sarcastic. "Because all Americans are big and strong thanks to hamburgers!" Miki started laughing. _That was unexpected,_ I thought.

"You know," she said after recovering from her bout of laughter. "You're not a stereotypical American."

I nodded. "I noticed."

We walked up to the counter. Miki ordered a lot of food: eggrolls, ramen, wontons, some Chinese noodles... She was a heavy eater. I settled for a generous amount of General Tso's chicken. I had no idea who General Tso was, but his chicken was amazing. I also got some ramen as well.

After paying for our food, Miki and I headed out of the restaurant. Miki had several bags in her hand and I had one.

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"Just follow me," she said.

I didn't say anything, instead following her as she jogged down the streets once more. I vaguely recognized the area near the bus station, which is where we stopped. In fact, there was a little French-style café near the station. Miki led me there.

"Why are we here?" I asked.

"To eat, of course," Miki replied.

"But, we just got Chinese, and now we're at a French café."

Miki grinned and shrugged. "It's kind of nice, huh?" I thought about it. There was some sort of appeal to the randomness that Miki had produced. _Here I am, an American in Japan, eating Chinese at a French café._

"Yeah, it is," I said. It wasn't much, but it was something. "So, now what?"

"We eat," Miki replied, already reaching into one of her bags. She pulled out one of the takeout cartons and started eating some wontons. I was surprised at how effectively she managed to open the carton, despite only having one hand. She still had some trouble, but she handled it well.

Miki looked at me. "What?"

Apparently I was gaping at how easily she did that. "Uh, just... uh, just how you did that..."

Miki didn't seem offended. "It's not easy, but I manage. Good thing I'm right-handed," she said with a grin. She grinned a lot.

I opened my my carton with General Tso's chicken. I took the plastic fork instead of the traditional Japanese chopsticks at the restaurant, so I stuck it in a piece of chicken and popped the chicken in my mouth. _I love this chicken, _I thought.

I ate about half of the carton before moving on to the ramen, opting to save some of the wonderful chicken for later. Miki was already on her third carton.

"You sure eat fast," I said. Miki looked up, her mouth full. She said something, but I couldn't understand what she said, so I raised an eyebrow.

She swallowed her food and looked at me. "You eat slow." There was a slight grin on her face. I noticed that she liked to mess with me.

"Really?"

"Really," she said, swallowing some more food. "It's not very American of you." She still had that grin on her face.

_She really likes making fun of me being American, _I thought.

We sat in silence and ate. I never really had ramen before then, but it was actually good. It made me wonder why so many college students complained about living off of ramen. It wasn't bad. _Then again, _I thought, _if you have it for so long, you'll start to dislike it._

I also noticed that the grin that Miki wore was akin to the grins my friends and I used to wear when we were messing with one another. Concluding that she was just playing around, I relaxed. I wasn't very tense in the first place, but any worries I may have developed had their lives preempted.

I, once again, only finished half the carton, leaving the other half for later. Miki raised an eyebrow when she saw my half-finished food.

"You gonna eat that?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, my eyebrow raised in turn. "I'm saving it for later."

She groaned. "Man, I thought you were full."

She already ate most of her food, yet she wanted more food. _I swear to God, if she gives me puppy dog eyes, I'm gonna flip. _I wasn't keen on finishing the ramen, mainly because even though they were good, noodles and my bowels didn't go well. I went against my better judgment and handed her the ramen carton.

"Thanks, Adolf," she said. "You're not such a bad guy after all."

I raised an eyebrow. "And what would make you think that?"

She shrugged. "Your name, maybe?"

That was a blow I couldn't easily recover from. Using my first name, something I had no control over, against me? It hurt, figuratively. She had a point, but not everyone named Joseph was immediately identified with Joseph Stalin, even if it was spelled the Russian way. Therefore, I concluded that her point had flaws.

I shrugged. "My name is out of my control."

"Still, you're not a bad guy," she said, grabbing some ramen with her chopsticks. It surprised me, seeing her eat food that I ate from, despite the fact I sometimes ate after other people.

"I'm glad you think so," I said. "I kind of got a different idea because of how people seem to avoid me here."

"Nah, it's not so much you as it is them," Miki said. "People avoid people for different reasons. What surprises me is how the shyest girl in the school is one of your friends."

I couldn't help but agree. "Me neither," I said.

I leaned back and thought about ordering some crêpes or something. I was seriously about to, but I didn't want to spend too much money on one day, even if I hadn't spent a lot. Despite having over 120000 yen, I was awfully stingy. I glanced at my watch. Somehow, it was after five.

"You think we should catch the bus back?" I asked Miki, who had just stuffed a clump of ramen in her mouth.

"Why?" she asked, mouth full. I managed to understand her.

"Because it's after five," I said.

She swallowed the ramen, leaning back. After a moment of thought, she nodded. "Yeah, the next bus comes at five-twenty, anyway."

My watch read **5:10 P.M.**

"So, we have ten minutes," I said, pointing out the obvious. She nodded, looking back at the ramen. She picked up her chopsticks and finished eating the Chinese-Japanese noodles.

I looked at the amount of empty cartons Miki had. There were seven cartons, eight if the half-eaten ramen I gave her was counted. She stood and tried to put the cartons in one of the bags. She was having trouble, since a light breeze kept pushing the bag's open top closed. I leaned over and held the bag open for her.

"Thanks," she said, sighing in frustration.

"No problem," I said as she tossed the cartons in the bag, one-by-one. When Miki finished tossing the cartons in the bag, I put her other bags inside and closed it up, looking for a trash can. There was one near the entryway to the shop, so I lobbed it in the can.

I returned to Miki and decided to make a jab at her. "You know, I wouldn't have guessed that you would need my help."

She hit me in the stomach, playfully grinning. "Nor would you have guessed that," she said. Her grin became infectious, as I found myself grinning. Though my stomach hurt a little from her jab, it didn't bother me.

Letting go of my stomach, I looked at the bus station. "Should we head back now?" I asked.

Miki nodded. We walked away, and in doing so, I heard someone talking in French. I turned around and saw a man standing where Miki and I were sitting, apparently ready to take an order. She noticed, too, since she stifled several laughs until we got to the bus station. When we got to the bus station, she let the laughs flow, and I couldn't help but laugh as well.

We sat, waiting for the bus to arrive. Not much was said, the waiter incident taking precedence. When the bus arrived, we boarded it and Miki chose the seat again.

_I wonder what people think when they see us,_ I thought. I had a similar thought when I helped Lilly shop.

The bus pulled out and we began the journey back to Yamaku, one I estimated would take at least forty-five minutes. Going into the city and going out of the city were completely different in terms of time frame.

We didn't really talk on the way out of the city, so I opened my carton of leftover chicken and popped a piece in my mouth. I went to pop another piece in, only to notice Miki staring at me.

"Not even going to offer a lady some?" she asked in the worst lady-like tone.

I grinned. "You don't exactly strike me as a lady," I said in jest. That earned me a slightly painful smack on the arm.

"I just struck you like a man," she said, her usual grin on her face.

I tipped the carton toward her. Instead of using my fork, which would have been stranger than her eating food I ate from, she picked up a piece of chicken with her hand. She put it in her mouth and reached for another piece, eating that as well. I grabbed another piece with my fork and ate it.

We kept that up until the chicken was gone, me using the fork and Miki using her hand. Her hand was sticky from the sauce, and after licking the sauce off of her fingers, she wiped it on my pant leg.

I wasn't disgusted, since I did the same thing usually. I was actually shocked. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Napkins are stupid," she said. "Besides, we don't have any."

"But why my leg?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "I just felt like it."

We sat silent for another five minutes before Miki started talking again. She didn't seem to like silence either, but unlike me, she could effectively break it.

"So, what's with you and Hanako?" Miki asked.

That was a touchy subject. I found Hanako cute and endearing, but the constant shyness and reclusiveness was something I couldn't stand. She was nice, especially so with me, but she needed Lilly to function a lot. Miki's question left me at a crossroads on how to answer.

"Well, we're not dating for one," I said. That was the truth. "What happened in class annoyed me."

"It would have happened to anyone," she said. "Misha did the same to Hisao after lunch yesterday."

"Yeah, I saw that."

"So," she shrugged. "Don't sweat it."

She had a point. Misha was just like that. Loud, quick to assume, pestering... She was nice, but annoying at the same time. Child-like, in a sense.

"So, you're on the track team, right?" I asked. I already knew she was, but I was trying to keep conversation going.

"I thought you already knew that," Miki said. _Dammit._ "Anyway, yeah. Why? You thinking about joining the team?"

_Not this again._ I pondered the thought. There wasn't really anything to do. Xbox still interested me, but I didn't have any urge to play, and unless I could form a hockey team, I would be rather bored. _Might as well,_ I thought.

"Yeah, I was thinking about it," I said.

Miki's eyes widened in shock. "Really?"

I nodded, confusion taking over my face. "Why?"

"This is great!"

"Why?" I repeated.

"I bet Emi that I could get you to join before she could get Hisao to join," she happily said.

I sighed and slumped over. "Why does everyone bet on me?" I mused.

Miki grinned. "Don't fret, man," she said. The way she said it was like we were in a man-to-man talk. "I still wanted to know if you'd join. I just happened to win a bet with the track star at the same time."

I sat back up. "Okay, then." I wasn't pleased that everyone seemed to have bets on what I would do.

I thought about what she said. She and Emi bet that- _Wait, Emi and Miki made a bet together?_

"I thought you and Emi weren't friendly," I said, my mouth cutting off my brain.

Miki raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"The way you referred to her yesterday," I said. "Gave me the wrong idea, I guess."

"Oh, that. We just have a friendly rivalry," she said.

"Oh. Well, I'm stupid."

"You said it." Grinning, Miki yawned again. "Wake me up when we're at the school," she said.

"Are you sure you're not narcoleptic?" I asked.

She sleepily nodded as she nodded off. Her head was resting on the back of the seat, like when we were going into the city. I found myself staring at her.

"_Or perhaps you like to watch girls sleeping?"_ Rin's words from our first and only meeting echoed in my mind . _Dammit, I haven't even seen her since and she's right._ I noticed that Miki's dark hair was rather alluring as it playfully bounced around when the bus would hit a bump. Her darker skin tone implied some sort of mixed heritage, or she was just really tan.

I shook myself, forcing my attention away from Miki. I watched as the scenery drifted by. The bus wasn't quiet. People were talking, several of them wearing Yamaku uniforms. Music could be faintly heard from the speakers, masked by the noise the people made.

I was starting to drift asleep myself when the bus hit a bump. I was jolted by not only that, but Miki's unconscious head landing on my shoulder. Her head didn't smack on my shoulder, it was more like the bump caused her head to become displaced, thus making its way to my shoulder.

My heart started racing, for some reason, likely due to possible embarrassment. I could feel my cheeks burning up. _Dammit, you socially awkward bastard,_ I thought. _Keep calm. It was an accident, don't get your jimmies in a rustle._

I relaxed after my short pep-talk with myself. I spent the rest of the ride trying to listen to the radio as I stared out the window. I swore I heard a U2 song, but I couldn't hear any more, the sound of chatter drowning out the radio.

After twenty minutes, we were riding up the hill to the school. The trip was slightly shorter than I had predicted, but I nudged Miki to wake her up. Her head was still resting on my shoulder, something I forgot to take into account. When she opened her eyes, she rubbed them, yawning, before noticed where her head was. When she did, she quickly shot up, her cheeks reddening almost instantly.

"Sorry," she quickly said, embarrassed.

I was embarrassed, too, but that had passed twenty minutes earlier. "It's fine," I said. "It was an accident."

Silence loomed for the rest of the (extremely) short ride to the top of the hill. Miki and I got off the bus, along with three-fourths of the students who went into the city, as well. The remaining quarter seemed to have stayed later.

We walked through the gates and across the grounds without conversation, likely because Miki was still waking up. When we reached the dorms, I stopped.

"Where would I go to sign up for the track team?" I asked.

Miki yawned. "Talk to the track captain," she said. "We think he's gay though, so watch yourself."

I shuddered. I'm not homophobic, but she just said it in a way that implied he was a rapist or something. "Couldn't I just talk to Emi? Get her to sign me up?"

Miki shrugged. "You could, but where would the fun be in that?"

I glanced at Rin's mural, her words re-echoing in my mind. "Maybe I'll do that," I said.

We walked up the stairs, coming to the dividing point between the dorms.

"I'll see you later, Adolf," Miki said, punctuating with a slug to my arm.

I hit her back lightly. "See you, Miki."

She turned back to me as she walked away, the playful grin still on her face. I grinned back and turned around to go to my room.

The common room was populated more than usual, but my target wasn't the common room. It was _my_ room. I climbed the stairs to my the hallway Hisao, Kenji, and I were situated in. I fumbled for my key and unlocked the door. I tossed the bag I was carrying into the trash can and took off my clothes.

I flopped on my bed, something I did a lot, and contemplated what I should do. I was starting to feel tired, for some reason. _I could go to sleep. I mean, I do have to run tomorrow,_ I thought. That seemed like a good plan, so I got back up and brushed my teeth in the bathroom, following a short detour to actually use the bathroom.

When I returned to my room, I lied back down, thoughts swirling in my mind. I didn't mean Hanako any ill will, but I couldn't have possibly spent time with only her and Lilly. I still didn't know what caused my sudden change in opinion, but I still chalked it up to ADHD and bipolar. The bipolar was only hypothetical, as I wasn't sure.

The afternoon I spent with Miki was actually very nice. I figured I wouldn't mind spending more time with her and even the sleepy Suzu. _They seem like some fun people,_ I thought. Miki was very tomboyish. She wasn't very girly. She was extremely playful and some one who seemed like an all-around cool person to hang out with. To top it off, she was an attractive girl. I couldn't say much about Suzu, but she seemed okay. Somewhat of a smartass, but okay.

I set my alarm and closed my eyes. I thought back to the night of the festival. I thought I was falling for Hanako then, but I wasn't too sure. Maybe it was just a fluke. Given my annoyance with her that day, that's what it seemed like.

Before I fell asleep, I made it a point to go to lunch with Suzu and Miki, just for the hell of it. I wanted to make new friends, so it seemed like the opportunity was presenting itself.

* * *

**AN: I know. The story seems a little sappy at times. It's supposed to be. Also, in case you didn't know, the Cyrillic lettering on the mirror was a nod to another fanfiction, the author of which reviewed this story. If you get it, props, if not, too bad. Oh, and the titles I make suck.**

**This chapter is what I meant when I said the story was a wildcard of sorts. Basically, I do blame the ADHD for the mood swing and change in opinion towards Hanako. Having the disorder myself, I have experienced such an occurrence several times. It's not pleasant, I know that.**

**Finally, any reviews would be appreciated. Also, critiquing Miki's personality would be helpful. I didn't write her as girly. At least I didn't try to, so if you notice something that seems girly, let me know.**


	11. Second Best

Chapter Eleven: Second Best

I woke up early the very next morning. I intended to wake up at six, but since I went to bed much earlier, I woke up earlier. I woke up at four-thirty, and any attempts to continue sleeping just caused me to be restless. I got out of my bed and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

I was surprised to not see Kenji in the hallway either time I entered it. I reasoned that he either knew what sleep was or he was planning some massive assault on a feminist compound in the Netherlands. The latter seemed more fitting for Kenji.

I reentered my room and got into my running gear. I had washed it with my uniforms, something I didn't notice Monday, when I was washing them. I walked around my room aimlessly for five minutes, deciding on what to do. I had decided on making some breakfast, but my legs kept going. Once I got the willpower to force myself to the fridge, I did. There were some disposable eating utensils in the room, so I grabbed the milk and some cereal.

_Might as well have breakfast, _I thought. If I was to keep running, I couldn't do it on an empty stomach every morning.

Once I finished the cereal and disposed of the utensils, I started for the door, but I paused. I turned around and rummaged through my school bag for paper, a pencil, and tape. I found a sticky note, so it worked out even better. On the note, I wrote "at the track" in Japanese and stuck it on my door.

"Perfect," I said in English, admiring my Japanese writing. "Now he won't waste time trying to get me out of there."

I left the dorms and headed for the track, settling on warming up and running some before Emi or Hisao got there. The sun wasn't up, but daybreak was fast approaching. No one was walking around, though I wouldn't have expected anyone to be up that early, anyway.

When I made it to the track, I was slightly surprised to see no one there. My watch told me the time was **4:55. **I didn't know how early Emi got there, but it certainly was a little later than five. I walked down to the center of the track and started warming up. I stretched the stretches out so I would be less likely to pull a muscle.

After a ten minute stretching session, I decided it was time to start running. I got behind the line and counted to three.

"Ein, zwei, drei," I said in German. On 'drei,' I pushed off. I wasn't running full speed, but I was jogging at a relaxing pace. As I jogged, I felt more inclined to speed up. I fought the urge to increase my speed and kept my pace.

After three laps around the track, I slowed down to catch my breath. I didn't want to be out of breath when Emi showed up, nor did I want to be on the ground trying to survive when Hisao showed up. I put my hands behind my head, as if I was being apprehended.

_Neat little trick, _I thought. _Wish I knew about this during the season._ I was always out of breath during hockey season, but I kept going. I always regretted it, because I was usually incapacitated the next day.

I let out a small laugh. _I remember that Emily would alw-_ I cut my thoughts off. For some reason, the thought of my dead sister upset me a bit. I managed to talk about the tile hopping to Hanako, but I couldn't even think about her and the silly stuff she did in private. I shook my head and started jogging again, eager to not let the memories of my sister come back to haunt me.

I was rounding a corner when I saw a figure in the distance, running towards the track. I heard a clacking that reverberated throughout the quiet hillside. I slowed down to get a better look, though I had my suspicions. I glanced at my watch, which read **5:30.** Time really flew on the track.

"Adolf!" Emi's voice rang out as she closed the gap between us.

"Hello Emi, fine day we're having, yes?" I asked, being an idiot.

"Shut up," she said as she neared me. "Why are you here so early?"

"I went to sleep early and woke up early. Unlike Hisao," I added. "I didn't fall asleep 'watching the sun rise.'"

Emi giggled. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "So, this is when you normally get here?"

Emi shook her head. "No, I'm actually fifteen minutes early."

"Oh," I sounded. "Well then... I already stretched, just so you know."

"I kind of figured," she said. "I'm not a dumbass."

"I never said you were, tupitsa."

"What?"

I grinned. "I said, 'I never said you were, tupitsa.'"

"What does 'tupitsa' mean?"

My grin got wider. "Dumbass in Russian."

"You're an asshole," she said as she smacked me, smiling a little.

I thought back to Miki's usage of American stereotypes and contemplated using one to comedic effect, but Emi ran off.

"I'm gonna stretch!" she called back.

"You do that," I said as I started to jog once more.

As I jogged, I shot a couple glances at Emi. The way she stretched was peculiar, but only because she didn't have her crura. The fact that her lower legs were missing allowed her to not worry about shin splints and such. So, she only stretched what needed to be stretched in her legs, namely her thighs, and her sides.

I didn't pay attention to her stretching for too long, lest she got the wrong idea. I wasn't Hisao, clearly staring at her butt while she stretched. Now, that's not saying I wasn't a normal (for the most part) teenage male, because I've done it before. Everyone has.

As I continued jogging, I ran past Emi, who flagged me down. "Adolf!"

I stopped. "What?"

"Let's go together," she said. "Get behind the line."

"Alright, fine," I said, walking behind the starting line.

"We go on one," she said. "Ready?" I nodded. "San, ni, ichi!"

Emi and I sprang like lightning and quickly disappeared, as if some guy who looked like a cop tried picking us up at an airport. It wasn't exactly a race, nor was I putting in my full amount of effort. I tried to maintain a steady running speed, but somehow, I managed to match Emi. She wasn't putting in her all either, but she didn't speed up.

We didn't say anything as we ran around the track. I occasionally would glance at my watch, but it didn't mess me up. I actually managed to find a rhythm that allowed me to run much longer than usual without running out of breath.

Emi and I made five laps before Hisao showed up, sluggishly stumbling down the hill. Emi slowed down when she saw him, but sped up to meet him halfway. I slowed down, putting my hands behind my head. I figured Emi was going to give him a pep-talk, so I tried catching any lost breath.

"Hey, you're back!" Emi said to Hisao in glee.

"And why didn't I get that kind of greeting?" I asked.

She glared at me. "Shut up, Adolf." She said it with a faint grin.

Hisao looked at me. "How long have you been here?" he asked.

I glanced at my watch. **6:15. **"About an hour and twenty minutes."

"Why did-"

"Hey!" Emi cut him off. "Go stretch, mister."

Hisao gaped at Emi. "I was talking," he said. Emi started to smile, something Hisao was apparently weak to. "Fine, fine, I'm going."

Emi walked over to me while Hisao went to stretch. "I have a question," she said.

"And I may have an answer," I said.

"Okay, smartass," Emi said, some playfulness in her voice. "Why did you come running so early? Hisao said you complained about running when we had lunch yesterday."

"That asshole," I said. _Looks like I need to warn Kenji,_ I thought. "Anyway, I don't know. I had nothing else to do and I couldn't fall asleep."

Emi raised an eyebrow before nodding and smiling. "Okay then!"

I looked at her quizzically. Emi seemed to have something against me. I didn't know what, but I planned on finding out. Maybe not then, but eventually. Hisao was walking back to us after he 'stretched,' which in reality was just him bending over and touching his toes.

"Alright, I stretched," he said, lying through his teeth.

"That quick?" Emi asked. Hisao nodded. "Everyone behind the starting line!"

We started to walk to the line, but I pulled Hisao aside. "You might actually want to stretch, moron. You get shin splints or pull a tendon, you'll be sorry you didn't stretch."

He nodded, though I doubted he understood. "I will next time," he said. I stared at him, as if to emphasize my point, before we took our places.

"Four laps?" Hisao asked.

Emi nodded. "If that's all you can do, yes. On three." she paused. "Ichi, ni, san!"

Emi and I were back to the way we were running before Hisao showed up. Hisao was struggling behind once more, but he seemed to be doing better than the day before. Emi and I were neck-to-neck the entire time, neither of us changing our pace.

By the time we made our third lap, Emi turned her head. "You're doing great, Hisao!" she shouted, before starting a sprint.

_You wanna race, Emi? _I though competitively. _You've got one._

I kicked my ass into full-gear, my feet propelling me off of the tarmac and in a short amount of time, I caught up with Emi. She seemed to be running her fastest, and there I was, caught up with her somehow. I myself was surprised that I caught up with her.

She looked over and was shocked to see me looking at her with a wild grin. We continued running like that until we completed the fourth lap. Upon completing the laps, I didn't cool down. Instead, I rolled over into the grass. Emi and I tied once more, but I was more worn than she. My breathing got erratic towards the end, likely causing me to be more fatigued.

Emi stopped in the middle of a cool down sprint and ran to me. "Adolf!" she called. "Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm fine," I gasped.

She leaned down next to me, Hisao joining her. "You don't look it."

I breathed again. "Seriously, I'm fine." I kept on breathing, my lost oxygen making its way back to me.

"Dude," Hisao said. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah," I repeated. "I'm perfectly fine." I caught my breath and stood, brushing myself off. "See? I'm fine."

Emi frowned. "I don't think you are," she said.

"Just trust me, I am. I was out of breath, that's all it was." Annoyance tinged my voice.

Begrudgingly, Emi and Hisao relented. Hisao and I continued our cool-down walk. Emi kept sprinting. I had my hands behind my head the whole time. I was glad that worked, or else I would have been gasping for air a lot more.

Hisao and I walked around the track a couple times, Emi only sprinting one lap. She joined us in walking when she finished her sprint.

"Why aren't you still sprinting?" I asked.

She shuffled. "Irritation," was all she said.

I raised an eyebrow, my gaze wandering down to her prostheses. I assumed that was what caused the irritation she complained about. I knew that prostheses could cause the irritation of the stumps that they were attached to, especially running legs.

"Is it your prostheses?" I asked. Emi nodded, slightly shocked I was able to guess so fast. We walked another lap, silence taking its place once more.

"Hey Adolf," Emi said when we stopped. "How did you manage to keep up with me?"

"Remember how I said I played hockey?" I asked. She nodded. "I played on ice as well." As if to emphasize, I flexed my leg muscles.

"Oh, so..."

"Yeah. I have strong legs. You need to be able to skate back and forth really fast," I said.

I had spent hours doing workouts for my legs to improve both speed and strength. It wasn't fun, but the payoff was great. I was pretty fast, even though I was awfully lazy. The fact I could match Emi in speed made me feel great, but I felt that she still could have easily beaten me.

"Oh, yeah," I remembered. "Emi, where can I sign up for track?"

Emi's slight fatigue and irritation disappeared, instead replaced by a mixture of glee and displeasure. "Dammit!" Emi said. Hisao raised an eyebrow.

"What did you lose to Miki?" I asked.

"How do you know about our bet?" Emi asked in turn.

"She told me yesterday."

"Shit," she groaned. "I lost some yen."

"That it?"

Emi shook her head. "There's some other stuff, but it isn't important."

"Doesn't answer my question," I said.

"Which was?" Emi asked, forgetful of why she lost the bet.

"How to join track."

Emi's eyes lit up. "Right! You're serious?" I nodded. "Hmm... let me think," she said, pausing for several seconds. "Got it!" She snapped her fingers.

"Please, do tell," I said.

"Alright smartass, just come to lunch with Hisao."

"Why?" Hisao asked, apprehensive that I would accompany him to the roof.

"Just come to the roof, Adolf," Emi said. "I'll have everything worked out."

"Alright, I'll be there," I said. "But you better bring me lunch."

She shook her head. "I mean, unless you want to deal with the captain," Emi said, implying something.

"NO!" I shouted. "I'll be there, damn."

Emi grinned. "Okay, see you guys at lunch!" she called as she ran off. "Don't worry, I'll bring you some!"

There was a period of silence as Hisao and I walked off of the tarmac. "So, why are you doing track?" Hisao asked, making the silence stop. We were about halfway to the dorms at the time.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Something to do, I guess."

"But why track?"

"There isn't a hockey team, as far as I know," I said. I still needed to find that out. "And I can't sit in my room after class every day, no matter how much I would like to." Hisao shrugged and didn't say anything, making our trip back to the dorms a silent one, something I figured I should have gotten used to.

At the dorms, we took showers, as was expected. My back was layered in sweat, so the soap and water from the shower felt superb on my grimy back. I only then noticed the dull pain that formed in my side. The warm water seemed to be massaging it, but also making it noticable.

_How didn't I notice it? _I thought.

The fact that I was oblivious to the pain in my side was amazing. I fought through it during hockey season, but when I was walking up the hill with Lilly the previous Friday, I couldn't. I wondered what the deal was, finishing up the washing process.

I got out of the shower before Hisao, who likely fell asleep in the shower. He didn't seem as fatigued as he was Tuesday, however, suggesting that he was getting used to the workouts. I dried off and left the bathroom, putting fresh undergarments on in my room. I glanced at the clock, which read **7:45 A.M.**

I was surprised it wasn't any later. I fell on the bed, regretful of running so much. It felt good, but I was fatigued, and memories of freshman year rushed back. _I'm gonna fall asleep during class, _I thought. Falling asleep in class wasn't something I wanted to do, so I set the alarm for **8:10 **and took a nap.

* * *

There was a loud beeping, which caused me to jolt up. The alarm was going off, reminding me to get my ass in gear. I shut it off and took my medicine before making a sandwich. I put my uniform on before eating the bread and meat. School bag in one hand, sandwich in the other, I left my dorm room to be met by Kenji.

"Hey man," the bespectacled man said. "What's up?"

"Not much Kenji," I replied. _Goddammit! Why now?_

"I saw you were going into the city yesterday," he said.

"Are you serious? How?" _Called it! I just knew it! How the hell?_

"I have my ways."

"Such as? Wait, are you spying on me?"

"I'm not, man. I was just passing by and saw you get on the bus."

"I thought you didn't go outside."

He tapped his head. "Hat."

"I just... what? No, never mind, why is it important that I was going into the city?"

"Just wanted to know what kind of intel you gathered." He looked genuinely curious.

"What if I was just going out to eat?" I said. I had thought about it, but I failed to think of an appropriate response.

He scowled. "That's bullshit, dude. I can smell it. You were with that handless chick."

"Miki? Yeah, but we seriously were just grabbing some food."

Kenji frowned harder. "Seriously?" His face brightened up. "Man, having an American as an ally is bitchin'. You go deep undercover, dude, and I like that. First it was with the Council, then with the blind bitch and what's-her-face, now it's with one of the amputees. Dude, you're like James Bond or some shit, I swear."

"I highly doubt Miki is a feminist," I said, wondering why he always thought I was going behind enemy lines.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," I said, looking at my watch. **8:17.** "Kenji, I gotta go to class, so I'll explain some other time."

Kenji's face became indifferent. "Well, duty calls, comrade. Keep taking the fight to the bitches. I'll be at my command center if you ever need anything." He then promptly made a tactical retreat to his base of operations.

I shook my head as I left the building. _How in the hell does someone end up like him?_ I thought. I also wondered why he thought every girl was a feminist. I planned on questioning him about it some other time.

I entered the school building, heading up to the third floor. There were crowds of students, either hanging out until the last minute or actually going to class. The former was much more frequent. When I entered 3-3, I found the class half-full. I noted that Hisao, Suzu, and Miki were in the class. Misha, Shizune, and Hanako were nowhere to be found.

I greeted Miki, who smacked my arm. "You talk to Emi?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did," I replied. Miki grinned. "Miki, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She nodded. "Sure."

I took my seat next to Hisao and promptly put my head down until class started. I heard people walk in, the door opening and closing numerous times. Misha and Shizune also walked in, Misha laughing as usual. I hoped she didn't ask me about why my head was down or pose any questions about my time in the city with Miki.

The last student entrance was Hanako's, identifiable by the gentle open and close of the back door. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to lunch with Hanako and Lilly. I still felt bad about not wanting to hang out with her. She seemed comfortable around me.

Mutou was the last person to enter and he started a chemistry lecture. I wondered why he switched between different forms of science and math so often. It was beyond annoying.

He gave us group work and we broke off into groups. I didn't exactly want to work with Shizune and Misha, since they would pester me. Suzu and Miki already had a partner, so that was out of the question. I glanced back at Hanako, who was working alone as always. _Well, it'd be nice if I did,_ I thought. _Don't want to be a dick to her._ I got up to go to Hanako's desk. Misha and Shizune were already in position to start working with Hisao and me.

"Adolf-chan!" Misha said. "Where are you going?"

"Misha, you and Shizune can handle yourselves," I said as I continued walking. When I reached Hanako's desk, I knelt down next to the desk.

Hanako was startled, since she wasn't paying attention. "Y-y-yes, Adolf?" she asked.

"Sorry to scare you Hanako," I said. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to work together."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle, as if I granted her a wish or something. "S-sure," she said, trying to mask her excitement. I looked around for an empty desk, and luckily, there was one. The guy who sat next to Hanako wasn't in class, so I slid his desk next to Hanako's.

I sat down and produced the worksheets he had given me. Hanako had her sheets out, but they were in Japanese, as opposed to my English papers. The worksheets were chemistry-related, like the topic Mutou was lecturing.

Hanako and I started to work on the worksheets, silent as always. I glanced up numerous times to see Misha staring, eyes wide. I glared at her and fought the urge to flip her off. We finished the worksheets with only five minutes left before lunch. The problems weren't hard, but they were ones that required much work.

"A-Adolf?" Hanako got my attention.

"Yeah?"

"W-would you like to eat lunch with us a-again?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." I was being truthful. "I have to see Emi about track."

"O-okay," Hanako said, putting her head down. I knew she was saddened by my rejection, no matter how sorry I was.

I stood up and put the desk back. I grabbed Hanako's sheets and turned them in along with mine and walked back to my desk, only for the bell to ring.

"Well," Hisao said. "Let's go."

I followed him out into the hallway, where people were pouring out of their classrooms. We moved against through the crowd. I was unsure of our destination, other than it being the roof. Eventually, we reached a door that no one seemed to pass through. Hisao opened the door and I saw a staircase. We walked up the staircase and opened another door, arriving on the roof. I was blinded as my eyes adjusted.

"You didn't chicken out!" I heard Emi say. "I'm glad!" She came into full view once my eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

"No, he didn't," Hisao agreed.

"Oh hey, it's the German dictator," I heard a dull voice say. I looked for the source of the voice, only to see Rin lying on a bench.

I sighed, unable to reply to her remark with any wit. "Hi, Rin."

Emi tapped me on the shoulder. "Here you go!" she exclaimed, handing me a paper that was entirely in Japanese.

I was shellshocked. "Emi, I can't read Japanese that well."

Emi grunted. "All you need to do is write your name here," she said, pointing to a lined space underneath a hefty amount of Japanese writing.

"That's it?" I asked.

"Yep. I had the nurse fill out everything else for you." She handed me a pencil.

I took the pencil and put it on the paper, using a bench to write on. "Japanese or English?"

"What, your name?" she asked. I nodded. "Do you know how to write it in Japanese?"

I shook my head. "I didn't exactly learn it, no." Of everything I did learn, my name wasn't one of those things.

Emi sighed. "I'll explain it to Hideo. Just write it in English, then."

"Hideo?" I asked.

"Track captain. You know, the gay guy."

I nodded, wondering why she kept referencing his supposed homosexuality. I wrote my name on the paper and handed it back to Emi.

"I'll give it to him in class, then. Anyway, here's your lunch!" She produced two paper bags for me and Hisao.

I thanked Emi and so did Hisao. Emi went to Rin and gave her a bag. When I looked in the bag, I saw a well-rounded lunch, fit for a runner. _Wait,_ I thought. _That's exactly what Emi is._ _And I guess I am, too. _Inside was a banana, a small Gatorade-like bottle, some noodles, and a sandwich.

"Looks good, Emi," I said.

She grinned. "I made it all myself!"

Rin nodded. "She does that."

I didn't feel like talking while I ate, so I just ate. The sandwich was good. Ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and salami. I wasn't fond of vegetables, but it tasted good nonetheless.

Lunch was nearing its end when we all finished. Emi got up to leave, but stopped and looked at me. "Adolf, come to the track later," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Track practice, silly."

"I don't have any clothes to wear."

"We have track uniforms," she said as she left the roof.

After a minute, Rin got up. "Can one of you open the door?"

Hisao got up. "Sure."

I got up and walked with him as he opened the door for the armless girl. Rin walked through the door and left me and Hisao on the roof.

"Think we should head back?" I asked.

"Yeah," Hisao said, nodding.

We went down the stairwell and headed back to class. The bell rang while we were in the hallway, so we ended up being the first ones in class. People slowly trickled in to the classroom. Mutou brought up the rear and got class back into boring session.

Class passed with the same amount of intensity it always did. Very little. Once class was wrapped up, everyone started filing out with haste. Miki was still putting her stuff in her bag.

"Miki, when's track practice?" I asked.

"Oh, so you did join?" she asked, turning from her bag. She was glad, given her grin.

"Yeah, I did," I said. "But like I said, when's practice?"

"Starts in half an hour." She turned back to her bag

"Thanks," I said. I noticed she was still trying to put her stuff away. Like the afternoon before, I held her bag open while she put the supplies in the bag.

She thanked me and we parted ways. I headed out into the hall when someone jumped out in front of me. I was startled and jumped.

"So!" Hisao said. "What's with you and Miki?"

I pushed him and started walking down the hall. "Nothing," I said. "Just asked her when track practice started."

Hisao was keeping pace with me and started walking backwards. "I think otherwise."

"Don't be like Misha," I said.

"Fine, I'll be like Kenji," he said as we walked down the stairs.

"Don't do that either."

"Seriously, dude." He skipped a step.

"You want to know?" He nodded. "Nothing. That is what's going on between us."

"You said that about you and Hanako."

"Was I lying? We're not dating."

He couldn't come up with any sort of reply, so I effectively won. When we entered the dorms, I turned to him.

"Besides, it seems like you and Emi have something going on anyway," I said.

"I thought we dropped this on the stairs," he said.

"Don't try to get out of it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he grumbled.

Satisfied that I got my point across, I ducked into my room to drop off my school bag. When I walked back out, I was surprised that I wasn't greeted by either of my hallmates. I headed out of the dorms and started towards the track.

Halfway to the track, I remembered that there was a track meet that Sunday. I swore under my breath. _Why did I join now?_ I thought. Upon reaching the track, after wading through small crowds of students, I spotted a few people on it already. I jogged to the track and one of the people, a guy, saw me. He walked towards me and we met halfway.

"Are you Riese?" he asked. He had jet black hair and had a small pink ribbon on his shirt.

"Yes, I am," I replied. "You are...?"

"Hideo Yoshimata. The track captain."

"Pleased to-"

"Don't waste my time with your pleasantries," he said rather snobbishly. He gestured to the school. "Go to the nurse's office. Your uniform is there."

I nodded and jogged back to the nurse's office. _What a prick,_ I thought. _I thought it was customary to be polite in Japan._ The thought lingered in my head as I ran past several students, one of which looked familiar.

"Adolf!" the girl said, running up to me. It was Emi.

"Hi Emi," I said, coming to a complete stop.

"Where are you going?" she asked. She was wearing her morning running gear. Or it looked like it at least.

"To get my uni-"

She cut me off by shoving a bag of clothes in my face. "Already got it for you!"

I grabbed the bag, getting it out of my face. "Thanks Emi," I said. "Now I got to get changed."

"Follow me!" she said.

"But I have to get changed!" I complained as I followed her. She led me to a rather large bush that couldn't be seen through.

"Change behind that."

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

She sighed in frustration. "Are you embarrassed or something? Just do it! I won't look." As if to emphasize, she turned around with a stomp.

I groaned, walking behind the bush reluctantly. I took off my pants first, so I could get the shorts on. When I took my shirt off, I felt eyes upon me. I looked up to see Emi looking at me and my face flushed.

"I thought you said you weren't going to look!" I said in frustration.

Emi's face was red, too. "I just happened to glance over as you looked up," she replied sheepishly.

I pulled the shirt on and placed my school uniform in the bag. "Okay, fine. Now let's get going." I wasn't convinced. We headed back down to the track and I tossed the bag on the bleachers.

Emi dragged me over to the center of the track, which is where I assumed practice would start. Emi told me to start stretching, so I did. I started out by stretching my calves and thighs. When I was finished stretching, I looked around to see what seemed to be the rest of the track team on the grass. When they were done stretching, Yoshimata called everyone to a circle.

"Okay team," he announced. "Today is a slightly shortened practice, as you know. We have a new member, American transfer student Adolf Riese." He pointed me out. "If you wish to become acquainted, do so after practice." He walked around a bit, clearing his throat. "We will start with some hundred meter sprints to determine where you will be during Sunday's relay. You will be in groups of four, so let's begin."

Yoshimata proceeded to rattle off some surnames and the people who were called got in position. The captain blew a whistle and hit a stopwatch at the same time. He did this for every group. After the third quartet went, he spoke up again.

"Ibarazaki, Miura, Suzumiya, and Riese," he announced. I walked to the starting line along with Miki and Emi. Suzumiya seemed familiar at first, then I remembered that he was in my class. The four of us got into position and waited for the whistle.

When the whistle sounded, I pushed off really hard, and ended up neck-to-neck with Miki and Emi. Suzumiya was a little behind. We stayed neck-to-neck until we reached eighty meters, which is when I pulled ahead of Miki. Emi and I stayed tied as we crossed the finish line.

"Not bad," Miki said as she clapped my back during our walk back. "For an American." She was grinning.

"Thanks. Not bad," I said. "For a girl." That earned me a hit in the side, but I smiled anyway.

"Adolf, you tied with a girl," Emi said.

I shot a playful glare at her. "Shut up." We walked back to the starting line to hear our results. Once we had our results, Yoshimata pulled me aside.

"You outran Miura," he said. "That's no easy feat, nor is keeping up with Ibarazaki. I wasn't so sure about accepting you on the team, but I feel I was right in doing so. Good job." We shared a nod and I walked over to Emi and Miki. Suzumiya didn't stay near us, instead going elsewhere. Yoshimata ran a couple more groups before calling us back to a circle.

"Okay, here's the current order for the relay," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. He listed several names that I didn't recognize. "... then Miura, then Riese, then Ibarazaki. Got it? Good."

_I'm after Miki on the relay,_ I thought. I wasn't sure if I should have felt bad or happy, but Miki seemed fine with it.

"Good job," she said. "You're the only guy to beat me."

"Wait, so Emi isn't a guy?" I asked, trying to mess with Emi. It seemed to have worked because she smacked me in the belly.

"I have a very feminine figure and feminine parts," Emi said. She didn't sound like she was joking.

I grinned at making her mad. "I'm just messing with you Emi, calm yourself."

"You're an asshole," she said.

"So I've heard."

Miki just chuckled at our little bout.

"Moving on!" Yoshimata exclaimed. "We're going to do a half-mile run. Same groups as before, same order." The first group for sprints went to the line and he sounded the whistle.

"Does he even run?" I asked Emi and Miki.

"No, he just organizes the team," Emi said. "He used to run, but he has something wrong with his foot."

"I thought it was his ass," Miki said, bursting out into laughter. I couldn't help but laugh with her and Emi.

Eventually, it was our turn to run. We stepped up to the starting line, waiting for the whistle. Suzumiya didn't seem glad to be with us since we ran much faster than him. Regardless, he started to run all the same when the captain blew the whistle.

I had ran a lot that morning, but the outcome was no different than the sprint. Suzumiya was third, Miki was second, and Emi and I tied for first. Suzumiya lagged behind early on, and Miki stayed with Emi and me until halfway through the second lap.

When we headed back, Yoshimata pulled me aside again. "Let me ask you something, Adolf. You don't mind if I call you Adolf, do you?" I shook my head. "Good. Anyway, what sports did you play in the United States?"

"Hockey," I replied. "On and off ice."

Yoshimata nodded. "Alright. That's pretty intense. That's all I wanted." I nodded and walked back to Emi and Miki. "Next!"

"What did he say?" Miki asked.

"Just wanted to know what sports I played in the States," I replied.

"What _did_ you play in America?" Miki asked. I forgot that I never told her.

"Hockey. Whether it was on or off ice, I played it." Miki's eyes lit up and she nodded in acknowledgment. I wondered why her eyes lit up, but I didn't ask. We ran some more, sprints and otherwise, the outcome never changing. I always tied with Emi, but beat Miki and Suzumiya. At six o'clock, Yoshimata spoke up again.

"Alright team, we're done for today. Friday and Saturday we will have practice. Full length on Friday, half on Saturday," he said. He then promptly walked towards the school, just like everyone else. Miki, Emi, and I walked back to the dorms together after I grabbed my bag, making a rather steady pace.

"So what's going on Sunday?" I asked. I knew there was a track meet, but I decided to play stupid.

Emi half-gasped, but then realized I was out of the loop. "Track meet against another school," she said.

I thought that was hardly fair. Another school playing against a school for the disabled. Though Emi, Miki, and I were fast, that still put the other school at an unfair advantage. It just didn't seem right.

Miki seemed to know what I was thinking. "It's another school for the disabled, actually."

I was relieved, for some reason. "Where is it?" I asked. Emi and Miki shrugged.

"Near Yamagata, I think," Miki said.

We passed by the administrative building, which is where Emi broke off.

"Gotta see the nurse," she said. "See you guys later!"

Miki and I said goodbye to Emi and continued in silence. I thought of a way to make the rest of the trip a little fun.

"Hey Miki," I said, hoping a mischievous glint was in my eyes.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Race you to the dorms."

She got her game face on. "You're on."

"On drei," I said. She raised an eyebrow. "'Three' in German."

"How many languages do you know?" Miki asked.

"That's for a later time," I said. "Get ready." I took a breath. "Ein. Zwei. Drei!"

We shot off, sprinting through the gardens. My legs were turning into jelly, due to the numerous 'exercise, rest' incidents I had that day, but my speed wasn't affected. Miki and I slowed to a stop outside of the dorms, me being the victor.

Miki punched me in the side. "You knew you were gonna win," she said.

I grinned. "But you still went with it."

She grinned with me. "You're an asshole, Adolf Riese."

"So I've been told," I said. I started to walk towards the boys dorm. "I'll see you later Miki."

"Bye Adolf," she called as she went into her dorm.

I sluggishly walked to my room and dropped the bag off, along with my track clothes. Afterward, I took a shower and went back to my room. I was about to take my dirty laundry to get washed when there was a knock on my door.

I opened the door, laundry in hand. "What?" I asked. Hisao was the one knocking on my door, laundry in his hands as well._ Must've elbowed the door,_ I thought.

"Lilly wanted me to pass a message on to you," he said.

"Lilly?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "I was heading to the library and I bumped into Lilly."

"Okay, what is it?"

"She wanted to know if you would have tea with her and Hanako."

"What? Where?"

"In her room, which she said was... two twenty-five."

I did need to unwind, no matter how much I disliked tea. "Sure," I said. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said as he turned away.

"Hey, Hisao," I said, causing him to turn around.

"What?" He was clearly eager to get the clothes washed.

"Mind washing my running gear for me?"

He sighed. "Why not?"

I plopped my track clothes and my old dek hockey clothes on his pile. "Thanks, man."

"No problem," he grunted as he walked away.

I closed my door as I turned around and walked to my closet. I pulled on a pair of khaki shorts and a t-shirt before walking out. I walked down the stairs and out of the dorms with some discomfort in my legs.

_Might as well relax with people who radiate relaxation,_ I thought as I neared the girls' dorm entrance.

* * *

**AN: I appreciate any and all support I receive. If you have any questions or something of the sort, feel free to message me. Leaving a review would be just as helpful.**

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	12. Accidental Breakdown

Chapter Twelve: Accidental Breakdown

The tea I had with Hanako and Lilly on my second Wednesday at Yamaku was actually very relaxing. When I arrived, I was confused as hell, since it was the girls' dorm and I had no idea if that was acceptable. A guy going into the girls' dorm, that is.

Lilly's room was fairly bare, some antique furniture present. It wasn't expected of a blind person to decorate a room. They would never see it, and decoration is mainly just for looks. There was a small table in the center of the room, where Hanako and Lilly sat in traditional Japanese fashion. There was also a tea set on that table.

The girls themselves were alluring, something I wanted to smack myself for thinking. I thought both Hanako and Miki were alluring, so dragging Lilly into the mix wouldn't help.

It saddened me to see Lilly in her pajamas, actually. She had a certain natural beauty that she would never be able to see. I was sad, but I also figured it was a good thing, in a sense. In my experiences, whenever a girl in the USA knew she was beautiful, she used it to her advantage. Not a good advantage, either, since it was oftentimes some sort of dark benefit to her. Such as never having to throw away her own trash, do her homework, or just about anything, simply because some airheaded guys floated around her, answering her every whim.

Hanako was dressed quite differently. Lilly's dark blue pajamas showed off her beauty, but Hanako wore a light pink gown that wasn't her size. It was probably so big so she could hide in it or something. I looked at Hanako and she positively identified me, faintly smiling. It made me feel even worse about my moodswing the day before.

Nonetheless, the tea having started. I took a seat and we engaged in some conversation. Hanako was overly nervous, but made tea for Lilly and me. The tea set she used was one that contrasted with Lilly's décor. The tea set was flowery and girly, something I could only chalk up to Hanako. It turned out that I actually like the tea Hanako made. She apparently picked up a different kind of tea, according to Lilly. Lilly also said it was bold on Hanako's part.

The drinking of the tea continued, conversation coming here and there. Once my tea well was dried up, I thanked them for having me and got up to leave. Hanako got up as well, and I joked about her coming with me. That caused Hanako to blush something fierce, stumbling over words. I let her know I was just kidding and we both bid Lilly farewell.

In the hallway, I told Hanako that she didn't to be nervous around me, since we were friends. I also reminded her about our unfinished game of chess, which she remarked that I wouldn't win. I quite heartily agreed, since I was absolutely horrible at chess. She bid me goodnight as she entered her room, which was next to Lilly's. I bid her farewell and headed out of the girls' dorm.

Outside, the darkening sky was just as relaxing as the tea I had with Hanako and Lilly. I would have sat there and stared at the stars, something I would expect Rin to do, but I needed to sleep. The amount of running I did that day wasn't easy on the brain or the muscles, so I was drowsy.

I walked back into the boys' dorm. In the common room were a couple guys. They were watching TV, and as I gave the usual polite nod, one of them called me over. Sluggishly, I walked over to the couch.

"Riese, right?" the boy asked. He had brown hair and a yellow hairband. He looked awfully familiar.

"Yeah, and you are...?" I asked. _Is he in my class?_ I thought.

"Haruhiko Suzumiya," he said. "The guy who ran with you, Ibarazaki, and Miura at track today."

_So I did see him somewhere and he is in my class,_ I thought. He wasn't wearing the hairband at track, however. I knew that.

"Sorry I forgot," I apologized. "So, uh, what did you want?"

"Just felt like getting acquainted," he said. "I mean, you are on the team now, and you are the new track star."

"How am I the new track star?" I asked. There was no way I was a track star.

"You kept up with Emi," he said. "That means you both are track stars."

I shook my head. "I certainly can't run as long as Emi does," I said. "Emi's still the track star, I'm just the runner-up."

Suzumiya seemed unfazed. "For the guys, you're the track star. That's not a bad thing, especially when an American joins the team and ties with the reigning star at his first practice."

I nodded indifferently. "It was nice chatting with you, Suzumiya," I said. "But I'm tired, so I'm going to bed."

"See you in class, then," he said as I walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, see you then."

I continued to my room, noticing a small bag hung on the doorknob. It had my clothes in it, freshly cleaned. I planned on thanking Hisao ASAP, but my first priority was sleep. After brushing my teeth, I fell on the bed and drifted off into a very relaxing sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I went through my normal routine. I was absolutely worn out, so I ran at a relaxed pace.

"Why are you running so slow?" Emi asked.

"Because I'm tired and my legs feel like shit," I said. "It's not like we're at practice or anything, am I right?" Emi nodded, defeated. She likely did not take into account the fatigue my leg muscles felt. We finished our laps and the cool off laps at around 7:30.

"Emi," Hisao said as we were about to part ways. He was panting. "Do we have to run on the weekends?"

Emi frowned. "Now you're just being lazy." Hisao frowned. "Fine," Emi concluded. "We don't have to run in the mornings on the weekend."

Hisao seemed like he wanted to celebrate, but couldn't.

Emi turned to me. "Adolf, don't come tomorrow," she said.

"Why?"

"So you can rest a bit before practice. Hideo runs the qualifying sprints every practice, so being slow isn't your best bet." She turned around. "I'll see you guys later!"

She ran off to the nurse's office. I looked at Hisao and saw him smile. Rather than mess with him, I stayed silent. We continued to the dorms in silence, something that persisted even when we were walking to homeroom.

In homeroom, I nodded to Suzumiya and said hello to Miki before sitting down. It seemed like Hisao and I weren't exactly early as of late. Regardless, we took our seats, keeping to ourselves as class started. Suzu was sleeping as usual, something I noticed as the result of wandering eyes.

Mutou was talking biology before lunch. Dominant and recessive genes and such. I wasn't good in biology, but I knew the lesson well enough. He didn't explain it too well, meeting faces of confusion and boredom from most of the class. He defeatedly wrote bookwork on the board.

I noticed Hanako leave prior to the lunch bell. I wondered why she left early, doubting she needed to go to the tea room that early. When the lunch bell did sound, I decided to drop by the tea room just to see what was going on. Hisao asked me if I wanted to eat on the roof again, but I told him I had something to check.

I walked down to the second floor room and entered. I was met by only Lilly, Hanako being nowhere in sight.

"Hello?" Lilly asked, hearing the door open.

"Hi, Lilly," I said. "I was just looking for Hanako."

"Oh," Lilly said. "I'm afraid I haven't met with her since this morning. Why were you searching for her?"

"She left early," I said. "I thought she'd be here."

"So she's still leaving class early..." Lilly's brow lowered.

"She does this often?" I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if Lilly said 'yes.'

Lilly nodded. "However, I was certain that would stop once you two became friends." She sighed. "Everyone has their own pace, I suppose."

Curiosity piqued, I decided to inquire further. "Any idea why she leaves so early?"

"Not really," Lilly said, opening her unseeing eyes. "I personally think it's because she doesn't want to be put in a position where she has to answer someone."

I nodded, again forgetting she couldn't see the nod. "I wonder why that is," I said aloud. Her scars were the most plausible answer.

"I imagine that the first thing most people ask her about is her scars, and what happened. She rarely talks about it with me, but I can tell that she doesn't like to remember whatever happened back then."

"So, being absent from any sort of situation where questions could be asked," I said. "That's her defense?" Lilly nodded. "But what about me? Why would she start talking to me?"

Lilly furrowed her brow. "Let me ask you something."

"Shoot."

"When you first met Hanako, did you pay any mind to her scars?"

I almost shook my head, but I realized that she wouldn't see it. "No, I didn't," I said. "I only glanced at them a couple of times, but that was purely accidental."

Lilly nodded. "That's why, then. She noticed that you weren't going to ask about the scars, so she opened up to you."

I only knew Hanako for nine days. Lilly knew her for much longer, so I could do nothing but trust her judgment. "You seem to be right," I said. "I've only known her for a little over a week, so I wouldn't really know."

Lilly had a small laugh. "I wouldn't worry about that. I'm sure you'll come to know her as well as I do soon enough." She placed her hands in her lap. "I welcome the prospect of her having a new friend, and the two of you have such similar interests..."

I didn't know what all we had in common. I read, sure, but as far as I knew, Hanako didn't play video games or listen to 80s music. I knew she certainly didn't play sports. The amount of things we actually had in common were very little, confined to just reading. I couldn't even say we were both shy anymore. I had broken out of my shell rather quickly at Yamaku.

"Well, the company sure is nice," I said, unsure of what to say regarding mutual interests.

"That's my point. Hanako is still an average person at heart," Lilly continued. "She wants company, just like any normal person."

I sighed. I felt confused, but not so at the same time. Maybe I was overthinking what Lilly said.

"You sound like you're confused," Lilly said. I wondered how she could pick up on that, since all I did was sigh. "We haven't known each other that long, so it's only natural for you to be confused by us, just as we are you."

Confused even more, I sighed. "I guess you're right."

"But that is half the fun of becoming friends, right?"

"Yeah, it sure is," I said. Never was I that confused about people.

"Come to think of it," Lilly said, her hand on her cheek. "There is the fact that we are of opposite sex. Men and women confuse each other quite a bit."

"Maybe that is so," I said. "Maybe even the fact that you're Japanese and I'm American."

Lilly giggled. "Maybe that is so." She paused. "Though, I'm not entirely Japanese."

I pretended like I didn't hear, wanted to continue my search for answers. "Well, I'll be off Lilly." I stepped out of the door.

"If you see Hanako, can you tell her to stop by my room later?" she asked as I stood in the doorway.

"Sure," I said. "Bye Lilly."

"Goodbye, Adolf," she said in English as I walked out. I thought about asking her why she spoke in English, but I passed it off as nothing. Surely students in Japan would know some English phrases. Plus, Mutou said most students should have a grasp on my native language equivalent to a fifth grader.

_Come to think of it,_ I thought. _She pronounced the _l_ in Adolf normally. And her name has three _l's_ in it. _I paused. _I just resorted to stereotyping. I'm so proud,_ I sarcastically thought.

I passed the thought off, deciding that I should inquire at a later date. I walked to the library, which was my next target, and entered without making much noise. Immediately, I started to stroll back to the back of the library, where Hanako's little corner was. I suspected Yuuko was sleeping or something, so bothering her wasn't on my agenda, hence the immediate stroll back.

Along the way, I grabbed a Harry Potter book. "Prisoner of Azkaban," I think it was. I already read all of the Harry Potter books, several times actually, but it was part of my cover.

Hanako was there, reading. That came as a shock to no one. She was in the teal beanbag, so I casually took a seat in one of the other beanbags.

"Gruß dich, Hanako," I said. Once again, my tendency to use German prevailed over my logical thinking.

"Hello, A-Adolf," she said. "What does t-that mean?"

"It's a way of saying 'hello' in German. Anyway, how's it going?"

"I'm f-fine," she said.

"Gut," I said, once again utilizing German.

I thought something was nicht gut, however. A few moments passed before I looked at her mouth. She was smiling, apparently glad that I dropped by. The smile's deadly effect on me was starting to wane, since that smile actually made me feel good about myself.

"How is the book?" I asked. Whatever book she was reading, I didn't know about it.

"I-it's good... I think," she said. "I've only j-just started it, so I d-don't really know."

"Ah, makes sense," I said. "Let me know how it is. I may look for an English copy if it's good."

"A-alright." She returned to reading the book.

A lot of time remained for lunch, about twenty-five minutes. Even so, I didn't know if that was sufficient time to get into a book. You'd start to enjoy it, but then you'd have to go back to class.

_What am I thinking?_ I thought. _Hanako shows up late every so often, it seems._

I decided against abruptly leaving. With my luck, she would get the wrong idea. I also didn't want to just sit there, thinking. I wanted to think, but just sitting there likely would make Hanako uncomfortable. Instead, I used my cover and cracked open the third Harry Potter book. I was disappointed to find the book in Japanese. The title was in English, so I assumed the book itself to be, as well.

"Gott verdammt," I said under my breath. Cursing in German was much more pleasing than doing so in Russian.

"W-what?" Hanako asked. I forgot that there wasn't any background noise in the library.

"Nothing," I said. "This book's just entirely in Japanese."

Hanako merely nodded, forgetting that I wasn't close to being completely literate in Japanese. I tried picking out words I knew, but I already knew how the book went, so I gave up and stared at the book.

My cover was blown, but Hanako didn't seem to mind. In fact, her eyes kept darting to mine when I would glance up. She continuously did that, her face always being shielded by the book whenever our eyes met.

_Does she want to talk about something? _I thought. I figured that conversation was an impossibility. I also thought about what Lilly said, about how Hanako doesn't like being questioned. Reluctantly, and against all better judgment, I posed a question.

"Hey Hanako," I said after what seemed like five minutes of 'Look and Hide.' "Something on your mind?"

"N-..." she quickly tried saying something. "It's nothing." Her eyes darted downward.

"You do know that saying 'nothing' always means there is something." Girls everywhere seemed to have the habit of saying 'it's nothing' when it obviously wasn't.

Hanako fidgeted in the teal beanbag. Apparently, sitting position is something that affects your ability to answer people. _She doesn't like answering, though,_ I remembered.

"I..." she sighed. "I was in an accident."

_Shit, this ain't good._ "When you were a kid?" I asked, suspecting she was referring to her scars.

Hanako nodded. Instantly, I felt bad. I never asked about how she got scarred, nor did I plan on it at the moment. Nine days is nowhere near enough time to learn about an event as painful as that.

"Hanako, you don't need to tell m-"

"N-no," she interrupted. "I want... no, I have to tell you."

"What..." I said in English, but she continued.

"When I was young..." she choked up. "I was in a fire. M-my house b-burned down, and I nearly..." She became slightly quieter. "I nearly didn't make it." She straightened herself, trying to regain her posture. "A-after that... I was alone..."

She had started to tear up. If there's one thing I hate seeing, it's a girl like Hanako cry. My inner white knight screamed at me.

"Hanako," I said, grasping her trembling hand. "If it's that painful, stop."

She looked at me, tears welling up. "B-but... I have to..."

"No, you don't." She didn't need to subject herself to that.

"But... I do..."

"Why?"

"L-last night," she murmured. "Lilly t-told me about your heart... and your a-accident..." She paused. "A-and I... I didn't think it was f-fair."

"What did you think wasn't fair?"

"T-that I knew about you b-but you didn't know about me..."

I grasped her hand more firmly. For some reason, I was being brought back memories of my sister, and the last thing I wanted was to have a mental breakdown.

"That's ridiculous," I said. "I have arrhythmia, yes. But there's so much more..." I trailed off, the last sentence merely an afterthought. It was true. The arrhythmia seemed like the biggest issue, but it wasn't. If anything, my mental condition was slowly getting worse.

"W-what do you mean?" Hanako asked.

"No-nothing," I said, barely thinking. _I don't want to get her worked up about my guilt, either._

She seemed unconvinced as she wiped away a stray tear, sniffling a bit. I only told Lilly about the accident and the hospital stay, as well as the arrhythmia. I never mentioned any more health conditions. I didn't even mention the death of my sister, nor did I mention how the accident happened.

_Stop reminding yourself,_ I thought as my eyes started to tear up. I pushed all of those thoughts aside as best I could.

"So," I said, resisting the urge to wipe my eyes. "We know some more about each other, then." I held her hand even tighter. "Listen. If it's too hard to, you don't need to talk about this."

For some reason, my mind wandered to the thoughts of a burn ward. The stench was horrible, but the patients felt even worse. I had to visit the burn wards in both Pittsburgh and Uniontown as a kid. Several times, actually. The first few times were because of my father...

I pushed those thoughts away as well. Thirteen year-old memories were still unpleasant. I felt a hot tear roll down my face.

_How is it that I'm getting emotional now? _I furiously thought.

We stood there, in the library, holding hands for a few quiet moments.

"T-thank you, Adolf," Hanako said, breaking the silence, which wasn't akin to her.

"For what?" I asked, the tear rolling down my cheek ever-so-slowly.

"I... I haven't told many people about this."

"Neither have I," I said, referencing my issue. The truth was, Hanako told me much more than I told her. She didn't know my back was scarred, she didn't know I almost died, she didn't know damn near anything about my predicament. Yet, she confided in me.

"T-then I won't tell a-anyone either," she said, regarding my comment.

I nodded, speeding up the tear's descent. "Ditto," I said. In truth, who would she have told? What would she have said? All she knew was I was in a car accident and have a minor arrhythmia. That wasn't anything big.

_It would be if she knew everything,_ I thought.

We stood for several minutes in silence, hands still interlocked. The bell rang and I suggested that we went back to class. Hanako nodded and we headed back.

The walk was in silence, but I felt that Hanako was relieved. I made sure that we weren't holding hands as we walked through the halls. I sure as hell didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea, given the emotional state I was in.

In class, I was extremely quiet. It wasn't like anyone would have noticed something was wrong due to that, since I wasn't loud. If Misha was quiet, however, there would be a problem.

"Dude, what's up?" Hisao asked, concerned.

"What do you mean?" I asked back.

"You look like something's wrong," he said.

I must have been rather sullen. It's strange, how one little conversation can cause a complete change in personality. _Couple that with several mental disorders and you got a goddamn package,_ I darkly thought.

"Nothing's wrong," I said, obviously lying through my teeth. Hisao shook his head and returned to his work.

I was in an emotional whirlpool. The talk with Hanako made me feel bad for her, but also mad at her. I was reminded of everything I worked so hard to put behind me. The emotional toll was immense, but I had immediately started work on pushing the feelings back deep down. I doubted the dam would hold as long as its predecessor, but it would have to do.

The rest of the day passed with nothing of importance, other than my swirling emotions. At the end of class, Hisao cornered me as I walked out into the hall.

"Alright, man, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I told you, Hisao, nothing's wrong." I felt my temper rising. He was pushing my patience.

_No, not this bullshit!_ a part of me shouted.

"I doubt that, man," he said. "Seriously, you can tell me."

"No, Hisao, I can't," I said through clenched teeth.

"Why not?"

"Because," I said. "It's personal."

To my relief, he backed off. It was also good for him, too. I deduced that I was close to having a bipolar episode. I hate being bipolar, since it can destroy friendships and relationships in general if not kept under control.

"Alright, man." He started walking away, then turned around. "We should hang out some time. You seem stressed."

I nodded, wanting him to just leave. "Yeah, we should."

He continued walking and I sighed. He was right. I needed to relax. Tea with Lilly and Hanako wouldn't do. Video games would only temporarily work. Venting worked well, but I didn't want to burden anyone.

I thought of relaxing places I used to go when I needed to unwind back home. An idea came forth and I set off for the dorms.

In the dorms, I dropped my bag and uniform off, instead putting on shorts and a t-shirt. I walked out of the dorms, evading any and all traffic. When I was outside, I beelined for the gates. Once outside of the gates, I started to walk to the town.

However, as I started my descent, I made a right and headed into the woods. I ventured deeper into the forest, trying to get further away from the road. I walked a good two hundred yards into the tree-covered area. I came across a downed log; whether it was a limb or a tree trunk wasn't discernible. I sat on it and started to muse to myself.

"Why am I remembering now?" I complained to no one. I was speaking in English.

"Why is it that talking to Hanako is making me remember this bullshit? Why? I don't understand..." I started to mumble to myself.

I rose and started to pace around. "It's absolute crap. She was confiding in me, so why am I remembering?" I neared a tree. My hands were clenched into fists. "Why am I being harassed by these horrible memories?" I got closer to the tree. My fingernails dug deep into my palms.

The dam I rebuilt earlier that day to hold my emotions back burst once more. "IT'S UN-FUCKING-FAIR!" I shouted as I punched the tree with all my might.

Pain shot through my fist, bark slicing my skin. I was furious and unable to react to the pain. I looked down at my hand, blood running down it. I didn't break any fingers, but the pain hinted that I was close.

"Son of a bitch!" I wiped my hand off on my shorts and wrapped it with my shirt. I applied a good deal of pressure to it.

I sat on the fallen log once more, cradling my bleeding hand. I felt the pain, but the pain didn't bother me. It was the blood. The worst thing I could have done was subject myself to the sight of blood once more. Not virtual blood, but real blood.

Memories of the accident rushed back once again and I tried to fight the wave of horror. I was barely successful in keeping the floodgates closed.

I sat in silence. I was trying to not think of anything. Instead, I was rebuilding the mental dam that housed my reservoir of emotions.

After a few hours, I felt like I had calmed down enough. The mental dam was complete, hopefully stronger than before.

I walked out of the woods, my t-shirt bloody. My hands had dried blood on them and so did my shorts. I swore, but I kept walking. If anyone asked, I got caught cut up by a thorn bush. If anyone asked why my eyes were sullen, I was tired.

I walked back to the school, since I wasn't too far away anyhow. I entered the gates and quickly walked to the dorms, not wanting to draw any attention. I slipped into the dorms and headed to my room. I took off the bloody clothes and put on makeshift pajamas.

I went to the bathroom and cleaned up my wound before walking back to my room. I rummaged for something to eat, eventually settling on some more cereal and sandwiches. I thought about what to do as I ate, before glancing at my laptop.

_My uncle did want an e-mail,_ I thought.

Reluctantly, I got up after finishing the cereal and turned on the laptop. After the boot-up process, I connected to the Wi-Fi and opened the internet browser. I logged into my e-mail and started to compose a new message as I ate my sandwich.

"Dear Uncle..."

* * *

**AN: This is part of a double-upload! Ja! The emotional part wasn't my best, I'm aware of that. This is going to be a short AN, so the next chapter's will be longer. As usual, reviews are appreciated!**


	13. To the Victor

Chapter Thirteen: To the Victor...

I didn't run Friday morning. I felt better, the mental breakdown from the previous day all gone. My hand's injury was sealed up, but I still had to bandage it. Luckily, there were some bandages in the bathroom, so after I showered, I patched myself up.

The day went off without a hitch. I shared lunch with Emi, Hisao, and Rin rather than Hanako and Lilly, however. I didn't want to relapse so soon, the dam bursting into little specks of crap. The lunch wasn't bad, and Emi reminded me to go to practice.

I went to practice, which lasted for several hours. The preliminary sprints resulted in no change with the relay line-up. Miki still handed the baton to me, and I still handed it to Emi. The running left me more sore than usual.

I went back to my room and slept like a baby, not even bothering to eat dinner. I was sore from all the running. Though I could run fast and I could run long, my body wasn't adjusted to the run-stop-run regiment that I had done the past couple days. Were it four months earlier, maybe I would have been adjusted.

* * *

Saturday was a whole new day. I woke up feeling good despite my soreness. I did my morning routine before making some breakfast. After I ate the cereal, I took my pills and put on my school uniform.

Homeroom was surprisingly lax. I greeted Miki and Suzumiya as I had the previous two days and took my seat next to Hisao. He was passed out on his desk. Misha wasn't even being loud, to my surprise.

We returned to physics that morning, but Mutou assigned no group work. I wouldn't have complained anyway, since I didn't want to be in a group. I thought that working alone might help with my physical duress, for some reason. I didn't question my illogical thoughts, since I just wanted the day over already.

Once the bell sounded, everyone geared up to leave. It was a long, dull process of physics and history. Regardless, I approached Miki before she could leave.

"Hey Miki," I said as she was nearing the door.

"Yeah?" She turned around.

"How long's track gonna be today?" I asked.

She tapped her chin with her fingers. "Maybe an hour?" she guessed. "I think we're just practicing the relay again. Anything after is optional."

I nodded. "Thanks," I said.

"Any time."

We both left the room, going our separate ways. She must have had her running gear with her, since she headed straight for the exit. I instead went to the dorms. In the dorms, I changed into my running clothes and made my way to the track.

Practice was definitely short. Our positions didn't change on the relay, and we executed the relay itself perfectly. We practiced it four times, an improvement being made each time.

"Alright team," Yoshimata announced at the end of practice. "If you want to practice more, be my guest. Practice is over. Now tomorrow..." He paused dramatically. "Let's kick some ass!"

The team cheered at Yoshimata's words. I couldn't help but get into the cheering mood. After a few moments, people started to disperse. I planned on going to the dorms and relaxing. If I could, I would have taken a nice bath, but that was unlikely.

I headed to the dorms and immediately took a shower. I stood in the hot shower for ten minutes, not even washing. I let the warm fluid run down my body in hopes of it alleviating some of the soreness that plagued my legs.

I started cleaning off after it felt like my plan had worked. After another ten minutes, I got out of the shower, my legs feeling less sore. I dried off and put underwear on. I walked back to my room and put on some loose clothes. A thin t-shirt and basketball shorts were what I wore.

I stretched out on my bed, hoping some of the remaining soreness would dissipate. I had no real luck and started pacing back and forth. I had several hours left to do things, yet I was completely unsure of what to do. The soreness made me uneasy to do anything physical and my small mental breakdown made me not want to hang out with Hanako or Lilly. Miki and Suzu were options, but I had no idea what they'd be doing. Emi was likely still running and Hisao seemed to want to sleep all day. That left me with Kenji, who wasn't my top priority.

_Who the hell else is there?_ I thought. I drew a blank.

Reluctantly, I walked out into the hall and knocked on Kenji's door. After hearing footsteps and numerous locks being undone, the door opened.

"Yeah?" my crazed hallmate said. "Who is it?"

"It's Adolf," I replied.

"'Sup?"

"Just wond-"

"Hey," he interrupted. "Game's on, wanna watch?"

He either read my mind or was already watching. "What kind of game?"

"American baseball," he said. _They get American baseball games here?_

I thought about it for a second. I wanted to do something, reluctantly went to Kenji, and then he offers me to watch baseball with him. I didn't even mention that I wanted to hang out.

"Sure, why not?" I said as I entered Kenji's room.

Kenji wasn't keen on me just barging in, but he backed up. "Hey, you got any money?"

I nodded as I looked around. "Why?"

"Pizza."

"How much do you need?"

"About six hundred yen."

"Do I get any of that pizza?" Kenji nodded reluctantly. "Give me a second."

I walked back to my room and grabbed six hundred yen for the anti-feminist. _Pizza's pizza._

"Thanks dude," he said as I handed him the money. He didn't make any motion to order pizza, leaving me wonder why. _Wait, didn't he say he doesn't use phones?_

"Kenji, how are you going to order that pizza if you don't use a phone?"

I must have caught him off guard. "What... what do you mean?"

"You need a phone to order pizza. You don't have a phone."

Kenji seemed tense. "Uh, right. About that..."

I looked around his room once more. There was an empty pizza box laying on his desk, indicating that he did buy a pizza the previous week. He had a TV, but it wasn't turned on. There were numerous maps hanging on the walls, all marked up like strategists' maps. He did have some puppets in a corner as well as some graphs. Seeing as the TV wasn't on, he was full of crap.

"TV's not on," I said. "You weren't watching TV."

"Dammit man, I thought you were cool," he said, as if he got got with his pants down.

"Give me back my money," I said. "And I am 'cool.' I think you're the one not being cool."

He reluctantly handed me back the six hundred yen. "What the hell do you mean?"

"If we truly are brothers in the fight against feminism," I said, playing off of his nutjob conspiracies. "You shouldn't lie to me, man."

It seemed like I struck a nerve, since he seemed remorseful. "I'm sorry man, I just got carried away."

I walked towards the door. "It's alright, bro," I said, adopting some of his speech. "Just don't do it again."

"Where are you going?"

I quickly thought of a lie. "To gather intel."

Kenji nodded. "I guess I should do that, too." He disregarded me and opened a notebook. "Now who can I look into?"

I walked out of Kenji's room and closed the door. I calmly walked into my room and closed my door.

"That was a bad idea," I said aloud. Hearing English, even if it was just me speaking, was always pleasant.

I rummaged for some more food and turned on the TV. I doubted that baseball was on, but I didn't really care. I wasn't big on baseball. I severely doubted I would have been able to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs, either. Getting American baseball was unlikely, but getting any of the NHL? Impossible.

I couldn't find anything worth watching, so I turned off the TV. I took what food I had, mainly snacks, and sat at the desk. I turned on my laptop and looked for something to watch. After searching for a good ten minutes, I found something to watch and sat back, snacking.

It wasn't long before I lost track of time. The sky darkened before I knew it and I started to get sleepy. I got up and showered once more. I brushed my teeth as well, before I went back to my room and slept.

* * *

I woke up at nine-thirty on Sunday. We needed to be at the track at ten, so I shot up and got dressed. I did my morning routine and ate breakfast in my track clothes before running out of the dorms.

I was on the stairs outside of the dorms when someone called my name. I turned around to see Suzumiya running up to me.

"Hey Suzumiya," I said. "You sleep in, too?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"We should get going, then," I said, jogging off. I wasn't going fast, so Suzumiya was able to keep up. We made it to the track with ten minutes remaining. I had no idea how twenty minutes passed that fast, but I figured it was 9:45 when we left.

I looked around for Emi and Miki. Yoshimata was talking to them, so I bid farewell and good luck to Suzumiya as I jogged over.

Yoshimata turned around as I jogged over. "Adolf!" he said. "How nice of you to show up." He turned back to Emi and Miki. "Anyway, you three going to be side-by-side for the four hundred meter dash."He took a breath. "As for the other events, I don't know if you'll run in them all. The relay's the exception, since you already knew you'd run that." He turned around. "Now, I'm going to talk with the rest of the team, so you can start stretching."

We started to stretch as he walked away. "What lanes are we in?" I asked mid-stretch.

Miki shrugged. "We'll find out before we start."

We kept stretching as Yoshimata had a pep-talk with the team. I really had no idea how track meets worked, but I assumed that so long as we had the best overall time, we'd win. I decided against asking about it.

My legs weren't sore, much to my relief. The other team arrived at ten and spectators started to show up in bulk around then. There were some people already in the bleachers, however, notably Rin and a familiar looking woman.

"Is Suzu watching?" I asked Miki.

"She should be arriving," Miki replied.

I glanced up at the bleachers again to see Rin leaving. I knew she was scatterbrained, but that was strange. I decided that she was getting something and kept stretching.

It wasn't long until we had to get ready for the dash. I glanced back at the bleachers to see Rin return with Hisao, who seemed like he just got up. Yoshimata came around and told us where to go.

Emi was in the outermost lane, which I figured was the first lane. Miki was in the second and I was in the third. There were six runners total, so it was their best three against our best three. As it turned out, I was the only guy out of the six.

I dropped into the running stance, or whatever it's called. Miki was ready to spring up, as was Emi, though Emi probably was able to actually spring up. I glanced at the starter, who raised his starting revolver. I never understood why the starters raised the revolvers. They were loaded with blanks, so they could just shoot at the ground or something. Must've been tradition.

When the trigger was pulled, we all shot off. Emi, Miki, and I kept pace, but so did the other team. We were essentially tied, but as we converged on the inside line, Emi took point. Miki and I followed close behind.

We rounded the corners, keeping pace, but Emi wasn't in the lead anymore when the final corner was rounded. Miki and I caught up with her, as well as one of the Yamagata girls. Emi lurched forward with an unnatural burst of speed, one that I could have matched. I decided not to, since we already had the dash in the bag. Emi crossed the finish line first, followed by me, Miki, and the one girl from Yamagata. We tied for second.

The crowd cheered loudly and the announcer gave the results, full of joy. The announcer's voice was awfully bubbly. _Is that Misha?_ I thought. The three of us met up with Yoshimata as the two hundred meter dash was being prepared.

"Okay," he said as he noticed us. "Great job out there. All three of you. Now, Emi, you'll run the next dash with Haruhiko and Hikari." Emi nodded and promptly ran back off to the track. Yoshimata strolled off to find the other two and I stood there with Miki.

"Does she do this often?" I asked.

"Do what?" Miki asked in reply.

"Run multiple events."

Miki nodded, her hair bouncing around. "After this, she'll run in the hundred meter and the relay."

"Do you know what we're running in besides the relay?"

Miki shook her head. "I only know that because Emi volunteered. Usually, Hideo chooses the runners, but Emi always volunteers for the sprints."

A thought crossed my mind that didn't ask beforehand. "Why aren't there separate track teams?"

"What do you mean? Like boys' and girls' teams?" I nodded. "I wondered the same thing when I first came here."

I wondered when she did come to Yamaku, but that was for a later discussion. "I still wonder why, though." The revolver was fired, marking the start of the sprint.

"Yamaku isn't normal, you know that."

"Yeah, that's for damn sure."

Miki shrugged. "Well, I don't know why, myself. Maybe it's just one of those things."

"A quirk of sorts."

"Yeah."

I shrugged. I found myself staring at her as she watched the runners. I averted my attention from her as I tried to focus on the runners as well. Involuntarily, I glanced at my hand, knowing Emi would come out on top. My hand was still bandaged, yet nobody asked what happened. _Probably for the better,_ I concluded.

After the runners finished, the crowd cheered once more. The Misha-sounding announcer gave the results once more and Emi headed back out on the track after drinking some water. Yoshimata rounded up two more runners and they headed to the blocks.

"Think we're doing mid-distance?" I asked Miki.

She turned her head. "Most likely."

There was a slight breeze flowing through. It felt good, not only to me, but to Miki. She sighed, not one of disappointment, but one of comfort.

"Enjoying the breeze?" I asked. She nodded.

I kept my focus on Emi as she got ready to run. Her lips curled into a devious grin as the starter told them to get set. When the trigger was pulled, Emi was like a severely stressed spring that just had that stress removed. She sprinted extremely fast, and the sprint itself was over in a few seconds. Emi's malicious grin was shortly replaced by her girly one as she bounded off of the track.

The crowd cheered for the third time. The announcer gave the results a third time, as well. Yoshimata made his way to Miki and me in the meantime.

"So, what are we doing?" I asked.

"Eight hundred meter mid-distance and the mile run," he said. "The fifteen hundred will be handled by another group." He turned to find another member of the team. "Dammit, where's Daiki?" I heard him say as he ran off. He walked funny, something I only noticed then.

"What's with the way he walks?" I asked as we walked to the starting blocks.

"Supposedly, it's his foot," Miki said with a grin. "But we suspect otherwise."

I grinned at her implication as we got into position. The boy who must have been Daiki ran over and got in position next to me. I glanced at the other team, noticing that it was still only girls. The starter told us to get ready and we did. Once the gun was fired, we sprang off of the blocks like they were springboards.

Miki and I quickly took to the front of the pack. I wasn't putting my all in, instead keeping steady. I could tell that Miki was doing the same. It was to be expected, since we weren't sprinting. We rounded the first corner, still in the front. The other team's girls started sprinting to catch up, causing Miki and me to increase our speed. Daiki was in the middle of the other group, not entirely trying.

We were halfway done with the second lap and nearing the finish. Miki and I both sprinted to the finish, the Yamagata girls trying to keep up. Daiki was still in the middle of the other group, somehow. We crossed the finish, sweat building on my back.

The crowd cheered and the announcer gave the results, joyfully. We seemed to be dominating the meet. The Yamagata team, which I realized was all girls, didn't seem daunted by the fact that we were kicking their asses. Miki and I joined Emi in the grass as the fifteen hundred meter was about to start.

"Good job out there, guys!" Emi exclaimed as we walked towards her.

"Thanks, you too," I said. Miki nodded.

"Are you two running the mile?" Emi asked. We both nodded.

The question I asked Miki resurfaced in my mind. "Hey Emi, how come there's just one track team?" I asked.

She put on her thinking face, which was borderline constipated. "There aren't enough boys in track to have a boys' team."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She pointed towards our team. "There aren't many guys. Maybe six, with you included."

I never paid any mind to that, but it made sense. It would hardly be practical to have a separate team if there were only six runners.

There were several water bottles set out. I took one and gave Miki one. I drank my water as the mid-distance event continued. Miki had to grasp the bottle with her knees and turn the cap with her hand. _Should've opened it, asshat._

When the runners finished, the crowd cheered, but not as loud as before. The announcer's results were also less cheerful.

"We lost that one then, huh?" I asked Emi. She nodded.

Miki took two large gulps of water before placing the bottle on a nearby table. I did the same and we ran back out to the track. We got in position and were joined by a black-haired girl. When the revolver was fired, both teams shot off.

The mile run was just like the runs Hisao, Emi, and I did in the mornings. We ran a mile in the morning, and I was running a mile there. While running, my breathing got into the harmonious rhythm that had been there during our morning runs.

I led the charge, Miki following closely behind. There was a Yamagata girl right on our asses, but she couldn't match either of our paces. The first three laps passed just like that. Our black-haired teammate was in fifth place, but I was in first, with Miki in second. Once the final stretch came, however, our dark-haired companion jumped to fourth and Miki dropped to third. The finish line was near, and so was the Yamagata ass-rider.

I pushed myself into a full sprint, as if I was racing Emi. The finish line was within reach and my foot crossed it. _I'm first!_ I happily thought. The Yamagata girl who was in second was in a close second, tied with Miki. Miki managed to tie it up with the other girl, thankfully.

The crowd cheered really loud, as did the announcer. I glanced into the bleachers to see Hisao clapping and cheering as well. Rin seemed disinterested, but she always seemed spaced out like that. Hisao must have noticed me looking at him, since he gave me a thumbs up. I noticed that the familiar woman had left.

I returned the gesture and ran back to the water, taking a quick swig. The relay was being set up. I was the only one on our team not in position. Emi was running anchor, something I didn't understand, so she was going to sprint out and grab the baton. I quickly ran to my position and got ready.

There were only four people in the relay. I misunderstood what Yoshimata said at the first practice, thinking there were a lot of people. In fact, that was just elimination, more or less. Everyone was in position, so the starter got ready to initiate the relay.

A brown-haired girl named Hitomi was our first runner. She sprinted out with the baton and covered the distance between her and Miki at the same rate as her Yamagata counterpart. Miki stumbled when she received the baton, causing her opponent to hand-off before her.

I sprinted off, receiving the baton shortly after. I quickly matched the girl running against me. I was increasing my speed, gaining a lead against the girl. After I hit the visual marker, Emi sprinted on the track and I handed it off to her. There was a considerable lead between her and her Yamagata counterpart. I slowed down, putting my hands behind my head.

Emi crossed the finish line with a small stumble, one that was barely noticeable. We won the relay, causing the crowd to stand and cheer. The Mishannouncer gave the results with even more glee. I waited for Miki and we walked toward the rest of the team together.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

Miki nodded. "Her stumble? That can't be good."

The team was crowded around Emi, congratulating her on winning for us. Miki and I joined in the cheering. Eventually, Yoshimata spoke up.

"Hey, Adolf! Miki!" he called. _Why is he saying our names? _"Get your asses in here!" I glanced at Miki. She shrugged and we walked into the center with Emi.

Everyone on the team cheered for us. At first, I was in shock that they even were cheering me. Then I realized that Miki and I were just as instrumental in our victory as Emi was. I felt quite good. Once the cheering died down a bit, Emi nudged me and walked towards two people. Those two people were Hisao and Rin.

"Hey, you showed up!" Emi exclaimed to the two of them. "Guess Rin owes me money, huh?"

"Hey, Emi!" Miki said. She had followed us. "You still owe me some money!" Emi frowned.

"We would have brought you a crown of laurels," Rin said. "But Hisao didn't find one."

Hisao got defensive. "Hey, neither did you."

"It wasn't my job to look." Rin seemed bored with his response.

"When did we assign jobs?"

I looked at Emi, who just smiled at the two bickering. When I looked at Miki, she was looking at the two, as well. She was somewhat confused, but amused at the same time.

"When I said, 'See if you can find a laurel branch,'" Rin continued, a bored expression on her face. "Try to keep up," Rin added with a slight grin.

Hisao shrugged. "Seems it's my fault after all, Emi."

Emi laughed while Miki and I just stared. "It's okay," Emi said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll make it up to me somehow."

Hisao looked confused. "Uh, sure."

"I like how we don't get any laurel branches," I mused. Miki heard me and nodded, slightly grinning.

"Good!" Emi said in gleeful response to Hisao. "So, how'd we look?"

Hisao seemed at a loss for words, but Rin was at a loss of reality. She just stared at the sky.

"Uh, you all looked very impressive," Hisao said. Emi grinned, but I knew why he said we looked very impressive, rather than anything else.

Hisao was a very readable guy, but girls seemed unable to notice such indicators. I knew he wanted to say Emi was the best, trying to flatter her or something. He was likely allured to her as she ran. However, he refrained from doing so, not only because Miki and I were present, but because he didn't want to come off as weird to Emi. They hadn't started dating, so saying something that indicated affection would be weird, given the fact she was running.

I stopped my thoughts, because they started to confuse me. While they seemed logical, there was also some faults. I didn't try to pick them out, since there was still a conversation going on.

"Great to hear!" Emi said in response to Hisao's appraisal. "I was worried that I looked a little slow on the relay-"

"No, _I_ was slow on the relay," Miki interrupted. "Were it not for Adolf, we may have lost."

I was confused, since Emi was fast as hell. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You passed the other girl, even after she had a head start. The last Yamagata runner would have crossed the finish line before Emi if you didn't manage to gain that lead."

Emi nodded in agreement. "You did help. A lot." She turned back to Hisao. "I guess I did just fine, huh?"

_Way to have an ego, Emi,_ I thought.

Hisao nodded. "Actually, I noticed-" Rin cut him off, kicking his shin.

Emi noticed the kick. "What was that all about?" she asked, her face showing confusion.

Rin frowned. "He noticed it. At the end."

"Yeah, we noticed it, too," Miki said, the two of us being mostly silent.

Emi frowned. "Hmm, that's no good."

"Hey," Miki said. "I'll talk to you guys later. I gotta go do something." She punched me in the arm in doing so and ran off, waving back. I found myself staring at her once more as we said goodbye. Emi spoke up again after Miki left.

"As for this..." she shook her leg. "Guess the nurse will look at it for me later."

She seemed rather ignorant of the situation, but she twitched, trying to hide discomfort. Hisao must have noticed the twitch as well, since Emi bounded to both of us.

"Hey," she said. "You guys look a little worried!"

I nodded. "Well, yeah, yo-"

"I'm fine, really!" she interrupted. "Just sore from all the running. That's all."

I was feeling sore as well. "I'm pretty sore, too."

Emi grinned. "And come on, a little pain isn't going to stop me."

I wasn't so sure, and neither was Hisao. "Oh no?" he asked.

Emi grinned once more. A quick glance at Hisao confirmed he was in a trance. "Hasn't yet," Emi said.

"Well then. I guess we shouldn't worry, huh?" Hisao asked.

"Damn right!" Emi exclaimed, her mouth agape. "I'm Emi Ibarazaki, fastest thing on no legs! I don't stop for anything!"

I lost it at 'fastest thing on no legs.' I keeled over in laughter. Emi giggled along with my laughter, but Hisao and Rin were undaunted.

"Impressive," Hisao said, unaffected by the hilarity that was Emi's unintentional joke. Emi giggled even more. Her giggling made me laugh even more. Eventually, I stopped laughing and stood back up, earning a raised eyebrow from Rin.

"Oh, before I forget," Emi said as I stood. "Rin and I are going to do something next Sunday as a post-track meet celebration! You should both come!"

"Why next Sunday?" I asked.

"Normally, we do it the next day," she explained. "But since the meet was on a Sunday, I've got homework and class and all that stuff to take care of." She grinned and nudged the both of us. "Plus our morning run, of course."

I wasn't keen on running again so soon.

"Right, of course," Hisao said. He then looked like something dawned on him. "Oh, right. Your mom wanted to say she's proud of you. She'll call you later tonight."

"Was she that woman with you and Rin?" I asked. Hisao nodded.

"I thought I saw her in the stands!" Emi happily said. "I'm glad she made it!" She paused. "Used to be my dad who showed up to my meets, but Mom's done a pretty good job of taking over." Emi seemed a bit sad to mention her father.

The cool breeze that blew earlier blew once more. I thought it was wonderful, but Emi shivered, thinking the exact opposite. Hisao noticed Emi's shivering and tossed his jacket around her shoulders.

_GENTLEMAN!_ my brain exclaimed.

Emi jumped, but grinned at Hisao. "Hey, thanks! It's getting a little cold, I guess."

"Yeah, looked like it," Hisao said.

I noticed that Rin was still standing behind Emi, not talking at all. She seemed in a trance by the crowds of people. That, or she was entranced by something meaningless, like a tree branch or grass blades. During my observation, Miki came running back.

"Hey!" she called. "You guys are gonna miss the medal ceremony!"

She grabbed my hand and barreled off, me in tow. Emi stayed behind, telling Hisao and Rin that the ceremony would take a while.

"How long is this ceremony?" I asked as Miki and I ran through the crowds.

"Hell if I know! Long is a good estimate!" Miki called.

_Exactly what I wanted to know,_ I thought.

As it turned out, the ceremony didn't last too long. Only about an hour. I got a few medals, as did Emi and Miki. After the rather pointless ceremony, the teams shook hands. Following that, the Yamagata team headed off of the grounds, boarding their bus back.

Emi ran off to see the nurse, telling Miki and me that she'd see us later. Miki and I waved goodbye and started to walk back to the dorms.

"You have any plans tonight?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No, why?" In typical teenage fashion, I immediately thought it was an invitation to a date.

She shrugged. "Me and Suzu were gonna watch some movies," she said. "Just wanted to know if you'd want to tag along."

It wasn't an invitation for a date, but it was a invitation to hang out. I didn't want to spend the rest of the day in my room, so...

"Why not?" I said. "I'll come over, sure."

Miki grinned and punched me in the arm lightly. "Don't get any ideas," she said. "My room number's 202."

I nodded, remembering the number. "What time?"

Miki grabbed my hand and looked at my watch. "Four," she said.

"Alright, then." I had an hour. "What about food?"

"If you bring some money, we'll order a couple pizzas."

I thought back to when Kenji tried duping me, but Miki didn't seem like the kind of girl who would do that. So, I nodded.

"I'll be over in an hour, then," I said when we were in front of the dorms.

"See you then," she called, grinning. I waved to her as I entered the boys' dorm.

I showered and changed my clothes. I slipped on some khaki shorts and a t-shirt. I grabbed my wallet and headed out of the door, locking it in the process. I hadn't noticed at first, but Hisao's door was open. He was hunched over on his desk.

"What's up?" I asked as I walked into his room.

He shot up. "Whoa, why are you in here?"

"You left your door open," I pointed out.

"Oh," he said. "Can you close it on your way out?"

"Yeah," I said. "What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"Looks like you're drooling on it."

"Shut up."

I laughed. "See you around, man."

He looked at me as I went to leave. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"The way you're dressed."

"How does that mean I'm going somewhere?" I wanted to dodge the question.

"Your shoes are on," he said.

"Maybe I just like to wear my shoes."

He grunted, placing his head back on his homework. "Whatever. See you around."

I grinned as I closed the door. _Success._

I walked out of the dorms and made a quick stop into the girls' dorms. Miki said her room was 202. The room wasn't hard to find, and none of the girls in the dorm paid me any heed. When I knocked on the door, I was greeted by Miki telling me to hold on.

"What?" she asked as she flung the door open. She was wearing a thin button-up shirt and no pants.

"Uh, hi," I said, my cheeks a little red.

Miki flushed red. "Sorry, I thought you were someone else." She looked back into her room. "You're early."

I glanced at my wristwatch. "It's only fifteen minutes," I said.

She shrugged. "Whatever, then. Suzu's already here, so come in."

I entered the room and analyzed it. The lights weren't on and the curtains were drawn. The curtains were really opaque, so I wasn't able to see anything the TV didn't illuminate. I was surprised that she had a TV, but stranger things have happened.

The television was placed next to her bed, so the bed became a makeshift couch. Suzu was already sitting on the bed, wearing pajamas. Though it wasn't nighttime, pajamas made sense to wear.

"You have some money?" Miki asked as she picked up her cell phone. I nodded. "What kind of pizza?"

I thought for a second. "Pepperoni, sausage, and bacon."

Miki nodded. "Suzu?"

"Anchovies, olives, pepperoni," the narcoleptic girl said.

"Okay." Miki dialed the number. As it was ringing, she turned to me. "If you don't mind, I'm sharing your pizza."

I nodded. "Fine with me."

Miki ordered our pizza as a large and Suzu's as a small.

"It'll be half an hour," she said after hanging up.

"You want me to pick them up?" I asked.

"If you wouldn't mind."

She sat on the floor next to her TV and started looking through DVD cases. I hadn't noticed them. The TV was on an entertainment center. There was a DVD player on the shelf below the TV and DVD cases below the player. I looked at the cases and noticed that a majority of them were in English.

"Fancy American movies, huh?" I asked as I sat next to Suzu.

Miki looked back. "Yeah, why? Am I not allowed?"

I laughed. "No, I never said that. You just didn't strike me as the kind of person to like American movies."

Miki grinned. "We went through this striking thing before, remember?"

"Yeah, we did."

Miki held up a case and asked if we wanted to watch it. I said I didn't care, since I didn't see the title, but Suzu said no. Miki kept rummaging through cases and asking us if we wanted to watch. Our answers didn't change until she presented _Lethal Weapon._ I never really watched it, but I always wanted to.

"You want to watch this?" she asked. I nodded, but Suzu said she didn't want to.

"Suzu, we're not watching _The Hunger Games_," Miki said.

Suzu groaned as Miki put the disc in the player. I looked at the time and saw that fifteen minutes had passed since Miki ordered the pizza.

"Alright, I'm gonna go wait for the pizza," I announced, getting up. "I need everyone's yen."

Suzu groaned again and handed me the yen for her pizza. Miki gave me half of the cost of our pizza, since we were sharing. I walked out of the room, saying that I would return.

I strolled out of the girls' dorm and made my way to the gates. I stood there for ten minutes, waiting for the pizza guy. _I hope this is normal, _I thought.

The pizza guy pulled up in a little car. When he got out, I saw he was holding two pizza boxes. He walked to the gates and I met him halfway.

"Order for Miura," he said.

"Here you go," I said, handing him the money and a delivery fee. I took the pizza boxes and went back to the girls' dorm.

Upon reentering the dorm, girls flocked around me, asking for pizza. _Goddamn, Kenji. Why are you right?_ I made a mad dash for the stairs, moving as fast as possible to Miki's room. Certain I had shaken my pursuers, I opened the door and slid in the room.

"How many people attacked you?" Miki asked when I closed the door.

"Just about every girl in the dorms." She grinned.

I set the boxes down on Miki's desk, opening them both. Suzu grabbed a piece of her nasty looking pizza while Miki and I both took a piece of the beautiful pizza. I sat next to Miki on her bed as she pressed the 'play' button.

_This isn't bad,_ I thought. _Watching movies with an attractive girl and a narcoleptic. While eating pizza._ I grinned a little. _I could get used to this._

As the movie progressed, I noticed that Japanese subtitles weren't turned on. Not like it bothered me, but it still caused me to be curious.

Suzu fell asleep whenever Hunsaker admitted that he was in the heroin trade. I really liked the movie so far, but I was still surprised that Miki even had it.

_American movies are awesome,_ I thought.

When the movie was over, there was still some pizza left in the box Miki and I shared. It was past 7:15, and I contemplated going back to my dorm.

"Stay and watch another movie," Miki said when I mentioned it to her.

I thought for a second. _Might as well._

"Alright, let's watch one," I said.

Miki grinned as she put an _Indiana Jones_ movie in the DVD player and stood. Miki took her seat next to me and I leaned back and relaxed as the opening credits started playing.

* * *

**AN: Alright. Any questions pertaining to Adolf's mental state will be answered, because the last chapter likely confused some people. Just review or PM me and I'll get back to you. If you're a guest, I'll answer it in the next chapter's AN.**

**I also have no idea how a track meet really works, so please ignore any inconsistencies between the track meet in this chapter and real track meets.**

**Adolf's speed is something I want to clear up. In earlier chapters, he was slow because he was being lazy. **

**Any critiques are accepted. I also encourage reviews, as they bolster my desire to type.**

**Another thing. The next chapter will likely not be uploaded until sometime in the middle of next week. I have some family stuff to deal with this weekend. Plus, my chapter titles suck.**

**Also, if your name is Retrograde and you're reading this, hello there, mein freund.**


	14. Birthday Planning

Chapter Fourteen: Birthday Planning

My alarm went off at 7:45. I got up and stretched, yawning in the process. The morning after the track meet, I managed to persuade Emi to let me skip the morning run every other day, so fatigue wasn't an issue. Hisao, however, began racing Emi to the track. Though it was only the third day of his early bird antics, I had a feeling he would get into hot water fairly soon.

While walking to the bathroom, I thought of Sunday. The movie night with Miki and Suzu ended well. Miki fell asleep near the end of _Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,_ so another couple pieces of pizza entered my stomach before I quietly left. I almost made it out of the dorms when Misha appeared and started questioning me.

"_What are you doing here?"_ she said.

"_I... uh, I-"_

"_Wahahaha! You move quicker than the normal American, Adolf-chan!" _I had unconsciously blushed when she said that.

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Were you with Hanako?"_

"_No, I wasn't."_

"_Then you were with Micchan, huh?"_

Assuming Micchan was Miki, I struggled to respond, causing Misha to have her suspicions confirmed. As usual, Misha laughed and walked away, telling me 'good night' in the process. Were Shizune there, I would have been hounded into doing council work. Probably even tortured into doing council work, lest they started spreading rumors that we were doing something, as Rin said when I first met her, _scandalous._

While I was in the shower, I wondered why Misha didn't try forcing me into helping her and Shizune, drawing blanks at every turn. The only logical thing that came to mind was a sort of personality change when Misha was around Shizune. It was actually quite shocking to see Misha without Shizune, since the two seemed inseparable.

Hisao barged into the bathroom in the middle of my extensive thinking, putting me on edge. I wasn't really showering, I was just standing in the water, waking up while in deep thought.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold," I heard Hisao say as he made his way to one of the shower stalls.

I decided to get to cleaning myself, since that's what a shower is supposed to be used for. After I dried off, I made my way back to my room, all cleaned up. Being able to sleep until after seven was very refreshing, something that left me without desire for more sleep. I ate breakfast and got dressed, a good bit of time to spare.

When I left my room, Hisao met me. His hair was still wet from showering.

"Good morning," I said as my door shut behind me. "How was the morning run?"

"Splendid," Hisao replied sarcastically.

"What was so 'splendid?'"

"Well, the run itself was actually fine," Hisao said as we walked out of the dorms. "It was just near the end of the run."

I raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?" Hisao tapped his chest, answering me. "You really shouldn't push yourself," I scolded.

"You're one to talk."

"My arrhythmia is minor," I retorted. "Plus, I wasn't pushing myself that much."

Hisao raised an eyebrow as we crossed the gardens. "How weren't you?"

"Because I played hockey in America, I already said that."

"And how is that relevant?"

"It's an exhausting sport. Watch a game or two, then come back and tell me you could do that."

Hisao snorted. "And how would I watch a game?"

I shrugged. "Internet's a wonderful thing, Hisao."

"I don't know where I could possibly use a computer."

His last remark killed my advantage. He didn't have a computer, since his room was quite literally full of just the bare necessities, so he had the advantage. Plus, I didn't even think KHL games were broadcast in Japan. Defeated, I sighed.

"Anyway, what did you do? Go to the nurse?"

Hisao nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"I'm guessing he had a few stern words, am I right?"

He shrugged. "Kind of."

I nodded in acknowledgment and we dropped the subject, the rest of the trip to homeroom silent. In homeroom, nothing changed. I exchanged a greeting nod with Suzumiya and said 'hello' to Miki and Suzu. Since Misha caught me leaving the girls' dorm, whenever I said anything to Miki, she gave me an immaturely suspicious look. She gave me one at that moment.

We had five minutes before class started, but as usual, Mutou had yet to arrive. Being late a couple of days was understandable, but he was late almost every day. Even Hanako beat him to class a couple times, and she was notoriously late from what I gathered.

Hanako herself came into the class via the back entrance, beating Mutou once more. I was the only one who paid the opening door any mind, so when she came into sight, my hand was raised in greeting. Hanako slightly nodded as she took her seat. I didn't expect anything more, to be honest.

When Mutou walked in, class started. He was lecturing more crap I already knew, so paying attention was futile, like the days before. When you already know the material, paying attention is hard. Couple that with ADHD and a strong dislike of the subject, and you become a rock.

A couple hours in, he assigned biology group work. Hisao worked with Shizune and Misha, as he had every time group work was assigned. I looked for Hanako, only to see that she up and left. I shouldn't have expected her to work with me a second time, since she was fairly apprehensive the first time. Working with Misha wasn't my top priority, either.

"Hey Adolf!" I turned around to see Miki waving me over. She was working with Suzu. "Want to work with us?"

"Sure," I said, shrugging.

I got up and walked to an empty desk behind Miki. We put the desks together and started working. The work itself was fairly easy, so we coasted through it. As we were working, I noticed that Miki had a bit of trouble writing. Her stump wasn't very effective in keeping the paper in place, so her characters were misshapen.

I reached over and put my right palm on her paper to keep it in place. Miki muttered a 'thank you' and continued writing. I felt eyes upon me and glanced over at Hisao's group. Sure enough, Misha was staring at me, wide-eyed as ever. Our eyes locked and I was firmly glaring at the bubbly girl.

Her stare was like the look that you would get from your friends if you were talking to someone you liked in middle school. The wide-eyed, expectant look that would haunt you for a good fifteen minutes. Maybe even a whole day if you were put in a group with them. Though they were similar, the stare Misha gave was full of much more... Misha.

The staring lasted for a good minute or so, only broken by Miki swatting at my hand with her stump. I broke the lock and immediately looked at Miki.

"Dammit," I said under my breath, realizing Misha had won. "What did I do?"

"You can get your hand away now," Miki replied.

I quickly retracted my hand and shot another glance at Misha. She was signing to Shizune rather fast, but I didn't pay attention for too long. Hisao and I somehow met eyes and we nodded to each other. He seemed lost, but not as tired as he was the previous week. Were it the week before, he would have been passed out on the desk, drool spilling over to Misha and Shizune.

I turned back to my group and started working. We had some trouble communicating answers at first, since I didn't know the Japanese equivalent of several words. Eventually, we got past that and finished up the work.

We had a considerable amount of time left before the bell rang for lunch, so I anticipated more work. Mutou didn't seem to want to bother with it, so he just sat at his desk, reading some Japanese science journal. The man's dedication to science was admirable, but it wasn't even close to the dedication of Bill Nye.

"So, Adolf," Miki said, starting idle conversation. "Any plans for lunch?"

I shook my head. "No," I replied. I wasn't stupid, so I figured she was proposing that I ate lunch with Suzu and her. "Why? What do you have in mind?"

"What makes you think I was inviting you to eat with us?" Miki asked, slightly grinning.

"Yeah, what made you think that?" Suzu asked, her head on her desk. She seemed ready to sleep.

"Well, I just assumed, since you asked me what I planned on doing for lunch."

"Well, you assumed right," Miki said, grinning. "How about some lunch with two drop-dead gorgeous girls?"

_As if I haven't heard that before, _I thought. I nodded anyway, accepting the proposal. "Alright then. Again, what do you have in mind?"

"The roof," Suzu said, face buried in her arm.

"We won't be the only ones there," I pointed out. Emi, Rin, and Hisao frequented the roof.

"And why do you want to be?" Suzu asked, propping her head up with her palm. "Pervert."

My face flushed red due to the notoriously sleepy girl's accusation. I had no intention of anything perverse, but the thought was still embarrassing. Suzu sat straight when she saw my red face.

"What were you planning on doing? Huh, Hitler?" _Don't call me that._ "You wanted to see us in our panties, am I right?"

"No, I-"

"You thought we were going to kiss each other in your lap, right?"

Miki was laughing, but I was getting a little freaked out as Suzu spoke. She kept leaning towards me, making it all the more creepy. It also was no help that we were in the front. It was only a matter of time before I got taken into the hallway. Suzu calling me Hitler wasn't helpful, either.

"Suzu." I held up my hand.

"What?" She was leaning quite a bit.

"One, I'm not Hitler," I said, quickly glaring at her. "Two, I didn't expect any of that to happen."

Suzu put her head down. "You're full of crap."

I exhaled heavily. "You're full of sleep." _That was horrible._

Suzu snorted in reply and Miki chuckled. "That was _bad_," Miki criticized. "Absolutely terrible."

I nodded my head shamefully. "I know, I know."

"Anyway, like I was going to say before a certain heavy sleeper interrupted," she said, nudging Suzu. "We'll eat on the roof with Emi, Hisao, and Rin. I have an extra lunch if you want it."

"Alright, the roof it is then." I wanted to ask why everyone seemed to have extra lunches, but that would be a strange question. If anything, the extra lunches were parts of premeditated attempts to sway me into eating lunch with whoever had the lunch.

Miki grinned. "Good." Suzu had fallen asleep on her desk by then.

Miki and I replaced our desks, and when the lunch bell rang, we got up to leave. Miki was rousing Suzu from her sleep when Misha pulled me aside.

"I see you, Adolf-chan," she said, smiling as usual.

"I see you too, Misha," I said.

She frowned. "I'm being serious."

"So am I." I knew I wasn't helping my case any.

We looked at each other for a moment before Misha grinned. "Don't get too intimate, Adolf-chan. Otherwise, we'd have to find you and make you join the council!"

Shizune tapped on her shoulder and Misha walked away with her deaf/mute other, leaving me wonder why she thought I was going to get intimate. The brief conversation also left a slightly awkward atmosphere linger around me.

"Adolf, are you coming?" Miki said, breaking my train of thought. She had two bags in her hand.

"Yeah."

I promptly turned around and walked out the door with Miki and Suzu. We walked briskly through the torrent of students, something Suzu didn't seem capable of doing. The stockings she wore, or whatever they were, gave the impression that she had some sort of disorder in her legs as well as narcolepsy. They appeared similar to leg braces, so the thought wasn't farfetched.

When the roof door came into view, the floodgates seemed to be closing. Suzu opened the door, allowing Miki and I to pass through. Once we climbed the stairs and opened the door to the roof, I was temporarily blinded. The sunlight reflected off of some metal and headed straight to my eyes.

Temporarily blinded, I waited for my eyes to adjust as Miki and Suzu went to a bench. When my eyes were done adjusting, I followed my companions, passing Hisao's lunch group in the process. The girls sat at a bench near Hisao, Emi, and Rin.

"Here you go," Miki said as I sat down. She handed me a bag which I presumed had food in it.

"Thanks," I said, opening the bag for food.

"No problem. Hope you like leftovers." As she said that, I pulled out a piece of leftover pizza from our movie night. Almost immediately, I took a bite out of the pizza. _Damn straight I like leftover pizza._

Suzu already had her lunch out and was stuffing her face. She was eating some of her leftover pizza as well, but hers was nasty. _I wonder why they both saved three-day old pizza..._

"Were you starved or something, Suzu?" Miki asked, noticing Suzu's hasty eating.

The narcoleptic girl shrugged. "Maybe," she replied, her mouth full.

I started chowing down on the pizza, which was in my stomach before long. A quick rummage through the bag uncovered a can of soda and another piece of pizza. I pulled out the can of soda, which was labeled in Japanese.

"What's this stuff?" I asked.

"Okkikunare," Miki replied.

"What?"

"It's apple-flavored, you should like it. I mean, Americans like apple pie, right?"

_Again with the stereotypes._ "I'm not too fond of apple pie, but sure."

"Again, you aren't a typical American."

"True," I said, popping the top of the can. "I'm very atypical."

I took a drink of the soda. It tasted... weird. One does not simply put apples into soda. However, it also tasted good, for some very strange reason. The shock from the initial drink subsided and I took another drink.

"See, I told you you'd like it," Miki said, grinning.

"Still strange," I said, removing the can from my lips.

Shaking her head, Miki turned to Suzu. "Dammit Suzu."

I looked at Suzu, who happened to fall asleep. She was still holding her pizza, which conveniently found its way to her hair. I started chuckling.

"What?" Miki asked.

"Her pizza," was all I could say.

Miki looked at the sleeping girl again and started laughing after a couple seconds. We laughed together for several seconds, before quieting down. Miki reached into her bag and pulled out a napkin, which she then used to wipe the small amount of pizza sauce out of Suzu's hair. Somehow, Miki didn't wake Suzu up, despite the slight difficulty she had due to only having one hand.

Miki ate leftover pizza as well, but only one piece. I was finished eating, so I sat there, drinking the oddly-flavored soft drink. When Miki finished her lunch, I threw our trash away in the garbage bin while she woke Suzu. On my way back to my lunchmates, Hisao stopped me.

"Thought you would've eaten with Hanako and Lilly today," he said.

"Well, I didn't. Why does it matter, anyway?" I asked.

"I don't know. When Hanako left early last week, you showed up with her after lunch. I thought you would've looked for her."

I shook my head, raising the soda can to my lips. "I don't plan on imposing myself upon her." I sipped the drink.

A shiny object flew by my head as I was drinking, causing me to choke a little. I looked at the object, a soda can, and my eyes trailed to Emi.

"Sorry!" she called, trying to sound innocent.

"What the hell?" I asked as I bent down to pick up the can.

"I said sorry, asshole!"

I let out a laugh, handing the can to Hisao. "I'll let you get back to the 'fastest thing on no legs.' You know, before she starts throwing benches."

Hisao chuckled. "Alright, man."

When I sat down, Suzu was up. She still had her pizza in hand, completely unaware that she used it as a pillow. I was about to let her know about the possibility of her hair being in her pizza, but she continued eating before I could. Miki seemed to have a similar intention, since we exchanged a disgusted look as Suzu kept eating.

Suzu finished her lunch with an awfully loud burp. "That was good," she said as she stood.

"Uh... I'll bet," I said. "Where are you going?"

"Back to class." With that, she walked off at a brisk pace.

"Why?" I asked Miki whenever Suzu opened the door to the stairway.

"Do you want to carry her to class?" Miki asked.

"Good point."

The bell rang shortly after, so we headed back to class with Hisao. When we entered the class, the first thing to catch my eye was Hanako in her seat. I was surprised to see her return, but I remembered that she had a habit of doing that. As soon as everyone took their seats, Mutou scribbled more work on the board. It wasn't group work, but it looked easy, so I set off to work.

* * *

Class went by rather quickly. The work was as easy as it looked, so I powered through. When the final bell rang, everyone rushed out the door. I wasn't able to, since I forgot to put my stuff in my bag before hand. When my stuff was in my bag, Hanako got my attention. She stayed behind as usual.

"A-Adolf?" she said.

"What's up?" I asked as I walked back to her desk. She seemed more at ease around me since the incident in the library.

"I was... I was w-wondering if you..."

"You...?" Trailing off seemed like a major problem for her.

"W-would like to play a game of chess..."

"Sure." _I'm gonna lose so bad... _"Tea room?"

Hanako merely nodded and stood. She grabbed her bag and we set off for the tea room. I wasn't in the tea room since the beginning of that week, and even then, it was only for a few minutes. It was also the first time I really spent any time with Hanako that week.

We quickly made our way to the second-floor room, encountering no resistance along the way. Hanako opened the door to the tranquil room and set her bag down in a corner. I did the same and took a seat as she produced the chessboard and set up the game.

The game itself was rather uneventful. I got destroyed at every turn, the destruction being more brutal than when we last played. If chess was _Mortal Kombat_, she would have had a Flawless Victory.

"Want to play again?" I asked. I knew my ass was grass, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"I... I have to finish my homework," she said.

I was fine with that, since my ass wasn't getting handed to me. "Alright, then. See you tomorrow." Hanako raised a finger to point at the chessboard. "I got it, you're good."

"O-okay..." She promptly left the room. I was putting all the pieces away when there was a noise at the door.

"Who's there?" I asked, not diverting any attention from the task at hand.

"Oh, hello Adolf," a familiar, calculated voice said. My eyes moved up to see Lilly standing near the doorway. She closed the door as she walked into the room completely.

"Oh, hey Lilly. How are you?"

"I'm okay," she replied. "I guess that Hanako isn't present?"

"No, she's not. She left a few minutes ago."

Lilly nodded. "Good, because I wanted to speak with you without Hanako around."

"Alright," I said, standing erect. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Hanako's birthday."

"When is it?"

"July tenth." _That's in a couple weeks,_ I thought.

I nodded unconsciously. "Okay, so what about it?"

"Well, it's not something she really looks forward to, but I want to cheer her up. I was kind of hoping you'd help me in doing so."

I wasn't sure how I would do that. I only knew Hanako for a little over two weeks, so any help I could give with her birthday would be rather poor.

"What do you mean she doesn't look forward to it?" I asked. Lilly's cloudy eyes opened and she felt around for a chair. I pulled out one of them for her. She sat and I followed suit, taking a seat across from her.

"Thank you," Lilly said as she sat. "Anyway, I'm not sure if it's important to mention, but it seems as though Hanako doesn't care about her birthday." I raised an eyebrow, forgetting that she couldn't see it. "However," she continued. "I think that birthdays are things that should be celebrated. They aren't normal days, so you should do something abnormal for a birthday."

I nodded. "I understand. Birthday parties in the States can get quite strange and out of the ordinary. What do you have in mind? I don't think that she'd like a bouncy house or anything. Maybe she would, but... Never mind."

Lilly chuckled. "My, my, Adolf. Quite off topic. Back to the matter at hand, I think Hanako has a soft spot for Karaoke."

My mind was blown. "No way." I loved Karaoke. I wasn't the best singer, but I enjoyed belting out some classic rock songs.

"Well, I don't think Hanako would ever admit to it, but I was thinking that we could book a room for us three."

I was getting quite excited at the thought of Karaoke with Hanako. My ADHD was about to kick into full gear because of how much my foot tapped in excitement.

"I have no idea why that would be bad," I said. "When?"

"Sometime in two weeks."

I considered the timing. It seemed fairly reasonable, but that was four days before Hanako's birthday. I also considered the fact that Lilly was bringing it up fairly early.

"I'm guessing there's another reason you're talking about this with me other than the Karaoke night, right?"

"You would be guessing correctly," she replied. "I was hoping you would help me shop for gifts in the city on Saturday, as well as find a place for Karaoke."

"So, you need someone to not only guide you, but to be your 'eyes,' per se," I said.

Lilly nodded. "Yes. It's hard to navigate the city without a guide for me, for obvious reasons. Plus, you can't really surprise someone if they're with you when the gift is purchased."

"I understand. So we sneak out and go to the city?"

"Pretty much. If we do it this week, Hanako can't link us."

"You're a pretty sly girl, Lilly." She smiled. "So, we meet when and where?"

"Outside the gates at about ten."

_She really planned this out. I feel like I'm participating on some sort of black op,_ I thought.

"Alright. I'll make sure my schedule's clear and I'll meet you there."

Lilly nodded and stood. "Well then, that's settled. Have a good evening, Adolf." She walked to the door.

"You too, Lilly."

She left the room and I stayed seated. The thought of holding a birthday party for Hanako seemed slightly farfetched. If it was only three people, her included, then it couldn't go wrong. She did open herself up to me quite quickly, to the point where I had a mental breakdown. That wasn't a good thing and I didn't want it to happen again, but it felt as though nothing could go wrong at the party.

I stood and stretched. The chessboard still needed to be put away, so it was. School bag in hand, I vacated the room.

"Oh ho ho..." an eerily familiar voice rang out. "And just what were you doing in there, Adolf?" I spun around, face to face with Misha. Something was up, since she didn't call me 'Adolf-chan.' Shizune was right next to her.

_Lie, lie, lie. _"Picking up." _Great truthful lie._

Misha, as usual, was signing to Shizune, who signed back. "How very considerate of you, but before we get too far..." Shizune pushed open the door to the tranquil room and signed back. "Whilst I cannot approve of your use of this room, I am impressed that you keep it in a better state than most club rooms." Shizune signed some more. "As a reward, you will dine with us."

While I was being offered free food, I couldn't help being apprehensive. They told me I had to dine with them.

"I like how I _have_ to dine with you two," I said.

"Yep!" Misha said. "Oh, and before you go getting any strange ideas, we're not trying to recruit you anymore."

"I kind of figured," I said, leaning against the wall. "You stopped when I defended Lilly a couple weeks ago."

"Well, you were tainted by her laid-back ways. Therefore, you are of no use to us."

"I'm not sure if you're trying to say that merely defending her made me suddenly lazy or that I'm some sort of used product that no one wants."

Both girls were taken aback by my comment. "That's not what I meant. Either of those. Since the festival's over, we have nothing to do unless there's some sort of crisis."

"And you're not exactly equipped for a crisis," I remarked.

"We'll manage just fine without you!" Misha said. "Just don't worry about it. Besides, we see each other in class all the time, even if you work with one of your girlfriends." My cheeks flushed red when she said that. She didn't sign it to Shizune, luckily, but she still grinned at my embarrassment.

"I'm not going out with either of them, Misha," I said defensively. She cocked an eyebrow. "Really, I'm not."

She grinned wider. "Okay, Adolf-chan," she said, leaning in closer. "I'll drop it because of Shicchan." She leaned back. "So, ready to eat?"

My schedule was free for the evening. While I was definitely reluctant to dine with the entire Student Council, I had no choice. No one could bail me out, but the positive thing was getting free food. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to actually relax with the two. I also decided to forget about the dorm incident with Misha for the moment.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Shizune and Misha signed to each other. "Well, that's good news!" Misha exclaimed. "Come on, we have a reservation, so we better hurry!"

Misha and Shizune both started to jog down the halls, so I moved to catch up. It wasn't a hard task, since I was the second-fastest runner on the track team. My legs moved faster than theirs by a lot.

"You know," I said as I jogged through the halls next to them. "I thought that Council members would abide by the rules."

Misha tried to sign to Shizune, but that was a comical failure. Eventually, they both stopped when we were in the lobby, signing back and forth.

"Shicchan says that we could walk if you wanted to," Misha said.

"I don't see why we would now," I replied. "We're basically out of the school."

Shizune signed to Misha. "Shicchan, I'm not saying that," the drilled interpreter said.

They kept signing, which I had to intervene. "I'm glad that Shizune is secretly cursing my existence, but don't we have reservations?"

Shizune flushed red when Misha translated my accusation, but she agreed. Thus, we set off once more. We ran through the courtyard and out the gates, passing several groups of students along the way.

Not much talking was done since we were running and neither of the girls could sign and run at the same time. We ran down the hill into town, my side burning as we slowed to a stop. I wasn't running full speed, but keeping in pace with the Council caused me to run and breathe irregularly.

Immediately, my hands flew behind my head to regain my breath. _Thank God you told me about __this, Emi,_ I thought, thanking the legless wonder. We walked through the town, stopping in front of the Shanghai. My jaw basically dropped when it hit me that the Shanghai was our destination.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked Misha.

"What?" she asked, innocently.

"We ran all the way down the hill just to come to the Shanghai?"

"Yup!" Misha exclaimed. _God, you would get along great with my little cousins, _I thought. We entered the teahouse and my eyes grazed over the booths. No one was in the café.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed in English.

"What now?" Misha asked, her face expressing confusion.

"Not only did we run down here, to the Shanghai, there isn't a damn person here! We couldn't have just walked?" I was pretty upset.

"Doesn't rushing to an appointment make it all the more worthwhile?" Misha asked for Shizune.

"What are you getting at?"

"If there's no pressure, there's no relief, right?"

"I'm not constipated, Misha." I glanced around. "Let's just sit."

Misha laughed at my remark. "Sure sure sure sure. We reserved our usual table, so we can sit there."

Subsequently, she started bouncing to the table that had **MISHA MIKADO** written all over it. The council president and I followed rather boringly. As soon as Misha sat down, she started fiddling with everything on the table. Seeing her mess with the things made me want to follow her example.

"Oh... sorry, I didn't hear you come in," I heard Yuuko say. She made a mad dash to our table from the back. "Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'll ju-"

"Right," Misha said, cutting me off as she translated some signing. "We'll have three curries. Extra rice for Adolf, because he's a boy."

"Uh, I'll have a coffee as well," I added, unsure about Misha/Shizune forcing an order on me.

Yuuko was fumbling with her notebook before I asked for the coffee. The coffee made her go into maximum overfumble.

"Okay. Three curries, one extra rice, one coffee... I'll be right back," Yuuko said as she spun around, pure horror washing over her face. She barreled through the staff entrance door.

Misha, Shizune, and I were left alone since Yuuko left to prepare our order.

"I like how I didn't even get to order," I said accusingly.

Misha laughed a little. "Lighten up, Adolf-chan! You'll like it. Plus, the Shanghai has no menu, so what would you have ordered?"

"I don't know. A hamburger?" _Bad joke and bad stereotyping of yourself, moron. _"Anyway, why isn't there a menu?" That was a question I had since the first time I stopped at the Shanghai.

"Hmm... I think it's because Yuuko probably forgot to write them out, and since the owner barely comes here, he never noticed."

"Interesting..."

Misha laughed. "At least that's my theory!"

Shizune excused herself via Misha, leaving the Drilled One and I at the booth. I was actually managing to have decent conversation with Misha. _I wonder if she goes out into the city, _I thought. My brain created the wonderful idea to ask about karaoke places, since she seemed to fit the role of a city girl.

"Misha," I said. "You go out to the city often?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You know any good karaoke places?"

Her eyes lit up like firecrackers. "Oh! You want to try some out? We can go after this if you'd like!"

I wasn't keen on going into the city so late in the day. "Uh, Misha... It's Wednesday, it's getting late, and I have to run in the morning. No."

She frowned. "Aw... I hardly ever go out to karaoke because of... well... you're smart. You can figure it out."

_Student Council and Shizune... _I thought. It made me feel guilty, letting Misha down, but I had a call of duty I had to answer. So, I thought fast, mixing the truth with a lie.

"I'm sorry Misha. It was planned to be more of a solo thing. Plus, I don't really know my way around the city."

Misha's frown lightened. "Well, there are a couple of places. There's one in the game center, there's a big complex on the main street, and there's a little one near the station."

"Thanks, I'll check into them."

"When you do, be sure to invite me!" She laughed.

"I will, don't worry." I made a mental note to take Misha out to a karaoke night some time later on.

Shizune came back as we finished our conversation, signing with Misha. They signed back and forth quite a bit, giving me the idea that Misha couldn't be trusted with anything.

"Shicchan says that if you're so keen on making a fool of yourself, then she won't stop you," Misha said. "But, if you want to take me out, you'll have to ask her permission first."

"Misha, I told you, it's a solo thing." I managed to keep a stoic expression, one of infallible truth.

The duo signed back and forth. "Shicchan says that you need to take us out sometime, then." Shizune signed some more. "And that you're lying because no one ever goes to karaoke alone."

My brain raced to think of a lie. The first thing I thought of was the American flag. "In the United States, it's not uncommon to go to karaoke alone."

When Misha relayed my message to Shizune, the Council president struggled to reply. I effectively stumped Shizune, causing pride to fill my chest.

"Shicchan said that Americans are strange," Misha said.

I nodded. "Yeah, and? Some Americans think the same of the Japanese."

Misha didn't receive a reply and couldn't give one herself. We sat in silence until Yuuko brought us our food. On the tray was a coffee pot and three mugs, even though we only ordered one coffee. The curry didn't look bad, but not good. I never had it, so I sucked it up.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Yuuko said.

She set the tray down rather clumsily and we each took our dishes. I had the one with more rice. When everything was on the table, Yuuko ran back behind the counter, likely to sleep.

We all started eating silently. I poured myself some coffee, sipping it every now and again. The curry turned out to not be half-bad, so I enjoyed it. I was done eating fairly quickly, despite the extra rice. As I leaned back, relaxing, my brain processed the fact that I dodged quite the bullet. If the Student Council found out that Lilly and Hanako were who I was really going with, as opposed to myself, shit would have really hit the fan.

"So!" Misha said, clapping her hands after she finished eating. I jumped from the sudden loudness. "Karaoke! If not tonight, then how about Sunday?"

_I've got that thing with Emi, Rin, and Hisao..._ "Sorry, I have something planned."

"Like what?" the boisterous girl asked, eyebrows cocked.

"Track stuff."

"But there's nothing planned for track this Sunday," Misha said.

"I know, I mean with some teammates." Misha's eyes suddenly widened. "No not with Miki, dammit!" She then cocked an eyebrow. "We'll go to karaoke some other time, I promise."

"You mean it?" she asked. I nodded, making her grin. "Okay!"

Shizune gave Misha an exasperated look as she got up. She handed me a clump of money and signed to Misha.

"Shicchan wants you to give pay for us. We have to go now, so bye Adolf-chan!"

Just like that, the Student Council left the building. _At least I don't have to actually pay,_ I thought positively. _If Shizune found out about Lilly being involved, it'd be a different story. _I paid Yuuko with the money Shizune gave me and stepped out of the building. Shizune and Misha were long gone, so the trek back was to be a lonely one.

As I walked out of the town and up the hill, a checklist manifested in my mind.

_Find out about karaoke places: Objective Complete._

_Find out more of Hanako's interests: Current Objective._

I laughed at my simplicity as I ascended the hill back to Yamaku. I had to think of a way to find out more about Hanako's interests rather quickly, since there were only two days to do so. The ascent back was unpleasant, but my legs trucked on. My school bag was still being lugged around, which likely didn't help me during the ascension.

As my feet carried me through the gates, two plans were already formulated in my head. They weren't anything elaborate. They were quite basic, actually. Simply ask her or just hang out with her. I kept walking to the dorms,

Stumbling into my room, I decided that my best bet would be to do both. Hang out with her and ask her. I felt like an idiot for not asking before, but as the saying goes: better late than never.

_And ain't that the truth, _I thought as my body thumped on the bed.

* * *

**AN: Sorry that it took so long to type up this chapter. I also made a make-shift cover art. It's not exactly great, and a fanart of America from Hetalia is in the middle, but I think it's okay. I know a guy who wants to make me one, so I might upload the current placeholder until he's done.**

**Also, if you played the alpha build, you know what's going down in the middle-end of the chapter. I'm also quite aware that an actual karaoke scene doesn't exist in the alpha, nor do any birthday scenes for Hanako.**

**I can't really think of anything else to say except to leave a review or PM me with any suggestions or questions.**

**Oh, and if anyone who reads this also reads Glitch in the System, that's on a hiatus. Juggling two fanfics isn't fun.**

**Guest Review Acknowledgment Time!**

**Bob North: I would like you to explain which parts of who you think are "Mary Sue" like. That'd be immensely helpful. I couldn't pinpoint what part of Adolf seems MS-like. I'm going to bet it's his speed on the track, but that was already sort of cleared up. Anyway, if you wouldn't mind helping me out with this tidbit, that would be much appreciated.**

**Random Guy: Yes, I am one sneaky avatar. I have to wonder if you're a regular or not, though. I think I'm fairly easy to spot. However, since you called me an avatar, I guess you lurk sometimes. It's okay, we all do it.**

**Both: I'm glad you guys like the story and hope you (as well as everyone) keep your eyes peeled for updates.**

**Oh, and that's another thing. Updates. I don't know how erratic they will be, since I've been having trouble getting on the keyboard. Anyway, that's all, and I hope you stay tuned.**

**P.S.: I know you're reading this, Jon. Hi.**


	15. Working for the Weekend

Chapter Fifteen: Working for the Weekend

The bell for lunch rang, cuing me to make my move. I followed Hanako out of the classroom and we walked to the tea room on the second floor. My plan wasn't executable Thursday, since Hanako was completely absent, so I was forced to pull it off on Friday.

We strolled down the halls. Well, I did. Hanako started tile hopping for some reason, though she seemed to be enjoying herself. When we reached the tea room, Hanako was quick to open the door. I looked around, wondering why, only to spot someone walking down the hall. Luckily for Hanako, sanctuary was only a door away.

I entered the room behind her, shutting the door behind me. Lilly wasn't there because of her class representative duties, so Hanako quickly set up her lunch and instinctively reached for the tea set. No objections were made on my part, since Hanako made some pretty good tea when I had tea with her and Lilly in Lilly's room.

Since eating lunch with Hanako was part of my plan, I packed a lunch. Once everything was out of the bag, I took a seat, thanking Hanako for the tea when she gave me a cup. She merely nodded, a faint smile on her face. _She is definitely more relaxed around me,_ I concluded.

Hanako sat opposite me, quietly opening her food containers.

"So..." I started. "What do you think about the work we had to do?"

"It... it wasn't hard," she said. "It was p-pretty easy."

Before lunch, Mutou had the class working on Japanese exercises. I liked it, since my Japanese lexicon seemed to grow, but it wasn't easy. It shouldn't have surprised me that Hanako found Japanese class easy. Bookworms, no matter the language they speak, tend to do well in language arts classes.

I brought the cup of tea to my lips, thinking about which direction the conversation should take. I didn't want to immediately question her about her interests, so I resorted to using the oldest conversation starter ever.

"The weather's nice, huh?" I asked.

Hanako nodded slightly, saying nothing. _Dammit, there went that idea, _I thought.

Both of us sat in relative silence once more, eating our lunch. After a good ten minutes, my lunch was eaten. The time seemed prime enough to ask Hanako about her interests, but not until I sipped the tea again.

"Hanako," I said, causing her to look up from her rice. "If you don't mind me asking, what else do you like doing?"

The mission was almost aborted when Hanako froze like a deer in the headlights of a semi. However, she thawed within a few seconds as she pondered the question.

"I-I'm okay with computers, b-but... I don't use them often..."

I nodded. "Anything else?"

"I..." she sighed. "I guess I en-enjoy singing..."

_Lilly, you were wrong,_ I thought. _She just told me she liked singing._

"What... what a-about..."

It didn't take a rocket scientist that she wanted to know about my interests.

"I enjoy playing video games and hockey," I said, though I hadn't played much, or any in the latter's case, in my near three weeks in Japan. "Watching movies is fun for me, as well. Listening to music is another thing I enjoy..." I trailed off, thinking of more things to add, though blanks were drawn.

Hanako nodded and we waited for the bell in silence. Square one was my current location. Given what she told me, I'd have to go with my gut on gifts. Computers were far too expensive, likely leaving me broke if I bought her one, and we already planned for karaoke. Not to mention, a computer was too big of a gift to give someone I'd known for not even three weeks.

"Just want to head back to class?" I asked. "We can avoid the crowds."

Hanako nodded. We cleaned up the room and vacated it. There were five minutes left for lunch, so we wouldn't be alone too long. Our ever-present companion, silence, followed as we made our way through the halls and up the stairs. Upon reaching 3-3, Hanako used me as a human shield once more.

When the door was opened, I noticed two people already in the class. One of them was passed out on their desk, the other turned around in their seat and grinned. Hanako quickly walked to her desk.

"Hey Adolf," Miki said. "Missed you at lunch today."

I walked up to Miki's desk and crouched down. "I doubt Suzu cared," I bluntly replied.

"Pfft... Don't worry about her," she said. "She's just like that."

"Like what? An in-your-face girl who's likely to pass out in your face?"

Miki laughed. "If you wanna say that." She glanced at Hanako, who had her head down. "You doing anything this afternoon?"

"No, why?"

"We're having a soccer game down by the track. Wanna play?"

Soccer wasn't my forté, but I shrugged. "I don't see why I shouldn't. Yeah, I'll play."

My handless friend grinned. "Great! I'll make sure to kick your ass if we're on opposite teams."

I smiled at her competitiveness. "I'll make sure I hand yours to you."

We shared a grin before the bell rang, signifying the end of lunch. Flashing one last playful grin at Miki, I headed back to my seat, prepared to end the school day.

* * *

I caught up with Lilly the previous night, reminding her that we still had class on Saturdays. We originally were supposed to leave at around ten, but she pushed our departure back to one, apologizing for her forgetfulness.

I stood outside of the gates, still wearing my uniform. Lilly was right beside me, one of the few people who changed their clothes before heading into town. She was wearing a beige shoulder-less long sleeve shirt that left her neck and upper chest exposed. The name of that kind of shirt still escapes me. Her pants matched.

There was a cool breeze blowing as I waited for the bus with Lilly. While we waited, the soccer game from the afternoon before came to mind. Miki and I ended up on the same team, so there was no handing or kicking of asses. I wasn't great at soccer, but our team ended up tied with Suzumiya's team.

"You don't mind that I asked around about the karaoke place, do you?" I asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't expect you to know any places since you're new here," she said. "I do know of a place, but I've only been there once."

"Is that how you know about Hanako and karaoke, then?" I asked.

Lilly shook her head. "No. I went with my sister." Her closed eyes opened. "Here comes the bus."

Sure enough, the distinct sound of a bus climbing a hill echoed throughout the hillside. The transport climbed the hill, and soon enough, Lilly and I boarded, ready to go into the city. There were several Yamaku students on the bus, all ready to spend the rest of their Saturday in the city.

I glanced over some of the students on the bus. Gabe Newell, from my class, was a few seats ahead of us and there was an albino girl in the seat behind him. She was legitimately albino, which surprised me.

_Albinism isn't something I thought would get you to Yamaku,_ I thought. I didn't have any room to talk, since one of my deciding factors for being shipped overseas was ADHD. I still had severe doubts about that actually factoring into the equation.

We passed through the town with silence between us. I found myself trying to listen to the radio once more, and once more, I couldn't hear it that well. I faintly heard a PSY song, but I couldn't pinpoint which one it was, nor would have I understood the lyrics.

My head rested on the back of the seat. "You know, you were wrong," I said to my sightless companion. Lilly was resting her head on the seat with her eyes closed.

"What do you mean?" she asked, not moving her head or her eyelids.

"When I was talking to Hanako yesterday, I asked her what she liked doing."

"Really? Quite straightforward."

"Not really, but she said she enjoyed singing."

Lilly's eyes opened slightly. "Huh," she sighed. "Well, it seems like I planned well."

_That you did, but..._ "How did you guess that she enjoyed singing, though?"

"When I walk past her room, I occasionally hear her singing. Softly, like the way she talks, but she does it quite often. I've heard her sing louder before, but only when the dorm is deserted."

There was an amount of pleasant surprise in that information. The trip into the city continued without much notable conversation. Lilly and I talked about our studies here and there, but that was about it.

Once we arrived in the city, I remembered my little excursion with Miki. I smiled at the memory, a rather pleasant one. Lilly started walking away as I was reminiscing, so I caught up to her. She walked up some stairs to a walkway that passed over the road. I looked around and noticed that there were a countless number of similar walkways.

I was surprised I didn't notice them before. Lilly stopped abruptly, causing me to stop next to her. Like when we shopped at Aura-Mart, she locked arms with me. It didn't shock me. She needed someone to help her around the city. She said so Wednesday.

"Shall we be off?" my blind companion asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

We set off, walking almost aimlessly around the walkways. I decided that we should check out the one near the bus station. It was the closest, so it made sense to check it out. As we walked, Lilly tapped her cane quite often, possibly for fun. She was smiling as she did it, so that further supported my thought.

After we passed a few crowds of people, we reached our destination. The karaoke joint was situated between a couple of clothing stores. Neon signs decorated the establishment's façade, as did a couple speakers that were broadcasting looped advertisements.

"This must be the place," I said. "Looks kind of shady, though..."

"Someone said something along the lines of that about this place," Lilly said. "It does have quite a few private booths, however."

I nodded, merely due to habit. "Okay then, this place could suit Hanako. Let's head in."

"Yes, let's," Lilly said as we entered the karaoke bar.

Lilly suggested that we rented a room for an hour, just to get a feel for the place. She waited, still grasping my arm, as I rented a room. Lilly said she'd pay the bill.

When we secured a room, Lilly and I strolled to it. The inside of the bar contrasted with the exterior. The interior was actually quite nice. Simple, but nice. The rooms only had the karaoke machine, a bench, and a table.

"I think Hanako would like this place," I said to Lilly.

"Really?" she asked. "That's good." She opened her normally closed eyes. "So, what should we sing?"

We rented the place out for an hour, so we should've gotten some use out of it.

"I don't know, what do you want to sing?" I asked as I walked near the karaoke machine. It had English and Japanese language settings. Naturally, I chose the English.

"Hmm... Is Kagerou in there?"

I assumed it began with a 'K,' so I immediately scrolled through the 'K' titled songs. It was one of the first songs in the list, by a band named Fujifabric. I started the song, and Lilly held her hand out. The microphone made its way to her hand via me.

The song started off kind of mellow, but it sped up early on. From the way it sounded, the song was a Japanese rock song. Maybe alternative. Maybe both. Either way, I liked the song from what I heard. Though Lilly kept in pace with the song, singing it perfectly, I could still hear the actual singer, but only barely.

The song lasted a little under four and a half minutes. When Lilly finished, I clapped, causing her to curtsy, holding the mic out to me.

"Your turn, Adolf."

"Alright, I guess it is."

I took the microphone and walked back to the karaoke machine. I searched through the songs, starting with the 'A' titles. It wasn't long until I found a song to sing: "Africa" by Toto.

I started the song and stood back. The synthesized intro played.

"I hear the drums echoing tonight..." I sang along.

Once the song ended, I thought I did quite well. Lilly even gave me a standing ovation.

"It's been a long time since I heard a song in English," she said in English.

The sudden language change startled me. She spoke in my language before, but only a simple phrase.

"The hell?" I said.

Lilly chuckled. "Pardon me. I never told you, did I?"

"That you spoke English? No, you didn't."

"Well, that much is obvious. I mean, I never told you that I'm only half-Japanese." Her voice when speaking English had a kind of funny accent. It was a mixture of a Japanese accent and an accent from the United Kingdom. Which one from the UK, I couldn't tell.

"You mentioned it before, but never mentioned what else you were."

"In that case, I'm half-Scottish."

The English-speaking was quite the relief, since almost three weeks of almost nothing but Japanese was figuratively killing me.

"Scottish?"

Lilly nodded. "Yes. My mother was born in Scotland."

"Hmm... Interesting. So, you know English and Japanese fluently..." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Fancy another song?" Lilly asked, ignoring my statement.

I smiled. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

Lilly and I spent the rest of our hour singing various songs, mainly in Japanese or English. I sang one song in Russian, surprising Lilly a little. Despite that, it was relaxing. Doing anything with Lilly was relaxing, for some odd reason.

Once our hour was up, the receptionist, or whoever he was, ringed into our room.

"Do you wish to purchase an extension?" he asked through the intercom, in Japanese.

"No thank you," Lilly replied as she stood, locking arms with me.

We exited the establishment after Lilly paid for our hour and we left. The city's hustle and bustle caught me off-guard, since I got used to the quiet and relaxing atmosphere of the small karaoke bar.

"So," Lilly said as we walked. She switched back to Japanese for some reason. "Did you get any good ideas for a present?"

"Sadly, no," I said, reluctantly speaking Japanese. "I only found out that she likes to sing and can find her way around computers. I can't exactly think of a gift, given that information."

Lilly simply nodded, leaving me wishing I knew more about Hanako. Blindly purchasing a gift for someone was an exceptionally risky move, even more so for Hanako. My gut was telling me to buy her a book or a chess set or something like that, but my mind told me to think about the gifts. My gut had failed me before, however.

"As ironic as it sounds," Lilly said, interrupting my thoughts. "Perhaps we should have a look around?"

_You're right, that was ironic,_ I thought. _And I have no idea how that's gonna work._

"That's a good idea and all," I said. "But... just how are we going to look around?"

Lilly grinned. "Simple. You window shop and tell me what's around. We may get an idea should something interesting appear."

I nodded. "Well, you're the boss."

I didn't doubt Lilly's judgment, and as soon as we were in the city's shopping district, I rattled off the details of any interesting stores to Lilly. We walked up and down the streets, searching for anything eye-catching. Well, I was, since Lilly obviously couldn't. She just listened for anything that sounded good.

Bookstores were closed on Saturdays for some reason, so my brain had to think critically. There were numerous clothing stores, but Hanako didn't seem like the type of girl to obsess over clothes. We kept walking, nothing of interest coming in sight. Eventually, we came to a halt as Lilly's phone started to ring.

"Do you mind if I take this?" she asked.

"No need to ask me," I said.

Lilly nodded, doing a one-eighty as she flipped her phone open. I didn't try to pay any attention to her conversation. From what I caught, it was normal girl chatter, gossip and the like. Leaning on a railing next to the sidewalk, my eyes lazily drifted around the stores on the street. A couple interested me, like a small antique store.

I walked to a nearby vending machine and grabbed myself a bottle of what appeared to be cherry soda. My eyes kept searching around for stores in between sips, but Lilly interrupted the process as she snapped her phone shut.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

Lilly's eyes opened, showing slight confusion. "No, why?"

"I just thought something was wrong, since you snapped your phone shut."

Lilly had a small laugh. "Oh, no, that was an accident." She closed her eyes. "Did you spot anything interesting?"

I took another swig of the soda. "Well, there is this antique store across the street."

Lilly opened her eyes once more. "Really?"

"Yeah. It's a small little shop, but..." A thought struck me. "Is Hanako an antique collector or something?"

Lilly laughed. "No, she's not."

"Then what's so interesting about this place?"

"Well, I never knew that there was one here."

"Well, let's take a look around, then."

Lilly locked arms with me once more and we crossed the street. Inside, the store was very disorganized and objects seemed to have been haphazardly tossed around. The shopkeeper, an old man wearing suspenders, was reading a book. He gave us a quick nod in greeting and returned to his possibly antique book.

"Lilly, what exactly should I look for?" I asked as we walked through the small store.

"Hmm... Keep an eye out for any dolls," she said.

"Dolls... dolls?"

Lilly nodded. "I got one for Hanako last year. I thought that her having someone to talk to would help her, since dolls can't say anything harmful. I think she really liked it."

"Alright," I said, struggling to move past some haphazardly placed things. "I'll do that."

The two of us fought our way through the store's messy layout, eventually happening upon an old desk that was covered in dolls and teddy bears.

"Found a bunch of dolls," I said.

"Really?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, there's quite a bit."

"In that case, can you pick one for me?"

"Sure," I said, my eyes examining each doll.

There was a problem in me having to do the searching, since there wasn't an inkling of an idea in my mind what Hanako would like. She liked chess, so I figured that a sophisticated looking one would work, but all of the dolls had a degree of sophistication to them. I let my eyes drift over the dolls some more, wanting to have my eyes caught, but to no avail.

"Dammit," I said in English with a hefty sigh.

"Problem?" Lilly asked.

"A little bit."

Lilly frowned, one of the few times I saw her do so. "I have an idea. Hand me the doll, and I'll feel it."

My eyebrows raised really high, but I complied. My search restarted, but I would randomly pick out a doll and hand it to Lilly every so often. After the third doll, Lilly sighed.

"Adolf, are you even trying?"

"I'm sorry, it's just... I've never bought a girl a gift."

That was a bit of a lie, since I bought my little cousins and my deceased sister gifts. The major difference between them and Hanako was the fact that I knew what my relatives liked. Even so, Lisa and Emma were just as happy with a bag of candy as they were with a new toy.

I looked back at the dolls, hoping to spot something Lilly would like. Two dolls finally caught my eye. One was blonde-haired, wearing a green Victorian English dress. The other was a black-haired doll that wore a blue sundress and a sun hat. They both were quite exquisite, giving me the impression that Hanako would like one of them.

The first doll, the Victorian English one, found its way to Lilly. She passed her hands over the doll, absorbing as much information as she could with her sense of touch. While she did that, I looked over the sundress doll. Engraved on its foot were Latin characters: das Mädchen. _The girl._

"It certainly feels beautiful," Lilly said after a minute. "Do you think it would suit Hanako, in your opinion?"

"I've got another one, Lilly, so hold your horses," I said, retrieving the green-clad doll. "Here you go."

Lilly took the sundress wearing doll and felt it. She ran her hands over it just as carefully as she did the first.

"I think they both feel beautiful," Lilly said after she felt the doll. "The question is, which one do you think would suit her?"

The truth was, I didn't know. They both seemed like they would suit Hanako quite well.

"Both, I guess."

"I don't think we should get her two dolls," Lilly said.

I sighed. "I'll buy the sundress doll," I said. "I plan on coming back soon and getting her another gift, anyway. I think she'll be fine with it, honestly." _I have no damn clue how she'll react._

Lilly thought for a couple seconds, sighing afterward. "If you insist." It was quite obvious that Lilly severely opposed my idea, but she kept a tight lip.

We walked back to the shopkeeper, who looked up from his book.

"Ah, looking to buy that?" he asked.

I nodded. "This and the other doll," I said, pointing to the one Lilly was holding. I put the sundress doll on the counter where he was reading.

The shopkeeper picked up the doll. "Ah, yes. This doll's not really an antique," he said. "But, I'll give you it for five thousand yen."

I nodded. "Alright, now how about this one?" I asked, taking the other doll from Lilly and placing it on the counter.

The shopkeeper's eyes widened. "Are you quite sure that you want this doll, miss?" he asked Lilly.

Lilly nodded. "I'm positive. I trust my friend."

The old man nodded. "I see..." He then noticed Lilly's clouded eyes. "Oh, no offense..."

Lilly closed her eyes. "None taken," she said. "If you could please wrap them for us, it would be appreciated."

The shopkeeper closed his eyes. "Yes, of course, but that doll is twenty thousand yen."

Lilly merely smiled and reached into her purse. When she pulled her hand out, four ¥5000 bills followed.

"Here you are," she said. "Twenty thousand yen."

The old man had a surprised look on his face, but took the notes. I presented him my lone ¥5000 bill, and he took that as well. Once he had the money in the register, he was tasked with the duty of wrapping the purchases.

I couldn't help but wonder how Lilly just pulled $200 out of her purse so effortlessly. My gift was only approximately $50, so Lilly's spending of four times what I did made me feel slightly guilty.

_It's not like you knew how much the dolls were going to be when you made up your mind, dumbass,_ I thought, reassuring myself. That much was true, and Lilly seemed perfectly fine with fronting the expenses.

Soon enough, the shopkeeper finished wrapping and presented us our presents, which he had placed in a bag.

"Please be careful on your way back," he said. "And do come again."

"Thank you," I said.

"Indeed, thank you very much," Lilly said.

As we were leaving the door, I paused. "Have a nice day, sir."

The shopkeeper bowed deeply to the both of us and returned my comment. I had no idea what caused me to add that extra bit of politeness. It wasn't anything to dwell on, since it wasn't a morally deficient action. It made me feel good.

"Well, that took a while," Lilly said, in English, as we crossed the street. "But we both found something."

"Yes we did," I said, also in English. We walked down the street several meters. "Think we should head back?"

Lilly nodded. "Yes, let's," she said. "Unless you have another gift in mind, I think we've done a lot of walking today, so I shan't mind taking a rest back at the dormitories." She paused.

"I haven't heard many people say 'shan't,'" I said.

"Not many people say it in America?" Lilly asked.

"No, not really," I said.

"Then what do some of the people talk like where you're from?"

"I'd rather not imitate it," I said. "Some people talk normally, like I am now, and others mush all of their words together."

"Well, you should imitate them some time. I'd be delighted to hear."

I shook my head, wondering why she would ever want to hear what is known as 'Pittsburgh English,' or 'Pittsburghese.' The dialect covered most of western Pennsylvania, but far southwestern Pennsylvanians didn't usually have the stereotypical Pittsburgh accent.

"I'll imitate it for you some day," I said.

"Splendid," Lilly said with a smile.

We walked back to the bus station, talking idly. Lilly and I spoke to each other in English most of the time, but occasionally she would switch to Japanese. It seemed to be unintentional, so I went with the flow. When the bus came, we boarded, ready to head back to Yamaku. I checked the time, and it was only 5:15.

"Wow," I said. "It's only five fifteen."

"Really?" Lilly asked. "That was actually pretty quick, then."

The bus driver seemed to want to hit every bump he could, so the ride was, as it is implied, bumpy. For twenty minutes or so, neither of us talked, preferring to hear the chatter on the bus. Eventually, I had to ask a question.

"Do you think I shouldn't have bought this doll?" I asked. It was quite a serious question.

Lilly pursed her lips. "Honestly, I don't think you should have. However, you sounded pretty confident that Hanako would like it, regardless of there being two dolls."

"You think it's impersonal? Like a gift card?"

Lilly nodded slightly. "Unfortunately, yes. It does seem a bit impersonal."

I sighed in frustration. "Dammit."

"Don't beat yourself up," she said. "You said you were planning on going back to get her something else, am I correct?"

"Yeah, yeah you are."

Lilly smiled. "Then it isn't that impersonal. If you only got her the doll, it would be impersonal, but you're planning on getting her another gift."

I sighed. "I haven't been this confused on buying a gift since my sister's birthday."

Lilly raised an eyebrow. "You have a sister?"

I should have kept my mouth shut, but I figured I could at least tell Lilly that my sister was dead.

"I do, but she's..." I sighed. "She's passed on."

Lilly's sightless eyes expressed sympathy, despite the cloudiness. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks," I said. I didn't want to talk about it anymore, so I changed the subject. "So, the karaoke night... That's just me, you, and Hanako, right?"

Lilly nodded, closed her eyes, and shrugged at the same time. "Yes, but my sister may join us."

_What was her sister's name? _"Akira?"

Lilly's eyes opened. "Oh, you've met?"

"No, Hanako spoke of her once, however."

"Ah. Yes, Hanako seems fond of my sister."

We didn't speak again until we entered the small town outside of Yamaku. The gift-giving aspect of Hanako's birthday party crossed my mind.

"Are we going to give Hanako her gifts at the Karaoke bar, or...?"

Lilly furrowed her brow. "I actually have yet to decide that. I will let you know when the time comes, however."

I nodded. "Okay then."

Ten minutes later, we were departing from the bus. Lilly didn't lock onto my arm as we walked through the gates to Yamaku, since she was quite familiar with the school. Together, we walked back to the dormitories.

"Thank you for your help, Adolf," my blind friend said.

"It was my pleasure," I said. _Why am I talking like this?_

Lilly chuckled. "You sound awfully silly when you speak like that. Anyway, I'll call the karaoke place and book a room." She paused. "What time is it?"

A quick glance at my watch followed. "It's six."

Lilly closed her eyes and sighed. "I hope Hanako doesn't notice the bag."

If Hanako found out about the gifts in the bag, the surprise would be ruined.

"You want me to distract her if she comes out to meet you?"

Lilly smiled. "Would you?"

"Sure."

I accompanied Lilly into the girls' dorm. No one was in the common area, and before long, we were on the second floor, outside Lilly's room. Lilly had me stand near Hanako's door, just in case the birthday girl came out. Lilly entered her room and hid the bag somewhere. Hanako never left her room, thankfully.

"Hey Adolf," a voice called in Japanese, scaring the metaphorical shit out of me. I spun around to see Miki grinning at me.

I sighed in relief. "Oh thank god," I said as Lilly exited her room.

"Oh, hey Lilly," Miki said when Lilly walked into the hall.

"Hello, Miki," Lilly replied. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine," Miki said.

"That's very good," Lilly said, turning roughly towards me. "Thank you again for your help, Adolf. I will talk to you both later." With that, she reentered her room and shut the door.

"What did you help with?" Miki asked.

"I helped her shop," I said.

Miki nodded. "Uh-huh... You free this evening?"

"Another movie night?" I asked. Those were actually fine, in my book.

Miki shook her head. "No. We were actually playing some board games, if you want to join."

_The only thing I'd do is go to sleep or play Xbox,_ I thought. _And I don't exactly have to get up that early tomorrow..._

"Sure, I'll play."

Miki grinned. "Hope you can kick Suzu's ass, though."

We walked down the halls together.

"Why, is she being cocky?"

"No. She just fell asleep on the game board."

Laughter bubbled up inside me before the floodgates let loose.

"It'd be absolutely hilarious if she did that when you played _The Game of Life._"

Miki laughed. "Funnily enough, that's what we were playing."

I laughed the entire way to Miki's room, actually causing Suzu to wake up. Sure enough, she fell asleep on the _Life_ game board.

Suzu sleepily looked up at me. "Oh great. It's the German dictator."

"Ja, es ist mir," I said, my laughter contained. _Yeah, it's me._

Suzu threw her arms up. "Now he's speaking German! What the hell, Miki?"

Miki shrugged. "I don't know Suzu."

"Now he's alone with us in your room!"

"I was last week, as well," I said, cutting off her attempt to accuse me of being a pervert.

Suzu grumbled something, possibly derogatory. Miki chuckled and sat down, patting the floor next to her.

"Sit down," she said.

I did so. Miki reset the game board, using her hand quite efficiently. Once she was done, she clapped her hand and her stump together.

"Let's play!"

* * *

**AN: This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I decided against it. I actually wrote the longer version, which would have extended into a third day. I may or may not upload the third day to pastebin. If I do, I'll provide a link in my bio, but I doubt I will.**

**This is part of a double upload, but I'm going to recognize the guest reviews from before. Also, before anyone asks what Miki was doing in the halls, she was waiting for Snoozu to wake up. Also, one hundred yen (roughly) equals one US dollar, hence Adolf saying he spent "$50" when it was actually five thousand yen. **

**Guest Review Time**

**Sir Bob of North: Ah, my good sir, I understand what you mean. However, I too have ADHD, hence the way I write about the medicine. The medicine can affect people differently, that's the thing.**

**As for the girls having crushes on Adolf, not all of them do. Lilly views Adolf as a friend, as does Emi. Rin is completely indifferent towards him and Shizune isn't really attracted to him. Misha's just... Misha. Excitable and such. Suzu seems to dislike him, but she really has no issue with him. Definitely no sexual attraction. Miki can be interpreted as being attracted to him or not being attracted to him, so she's a wildcard. Hanako is the only one with a confirmed crush on him. Her actions near him, like blushing every now and again, kind of imply that heavily.**

**Now if you ask about Adolf's feelings toward the girls, the answers lie in the story.**

**Lastly, his thoughts... That part I cannot provide a response for, since it sort of goes hand-in-hand with the medicine part.**

**Regardless, I appreciate you reviewing the story and providing your criticism.**

**Random Guy: I know EXACTLY who Adolf's love interest is going to be, and it should be quite obvious. I don't want to say anything if it isn't since I don't want to be a spoiling buttnugget. The karaoke part won't come up for a couple chapters, sadly. Oh, and the fact that I'm writing the largest KS fanfic on the site is quite startling. Makes me feel like I write too much per chapter. Feels good, though.**

**Now, my friends, read on and enjoy as best as possible! Although, the next chapter is fairly dialogue heavy.**

**And yes, the chapter is titled as it is. Deal with it.**


	16. Last Minute Rush

Chapter Sixteen: Last Minute Rush

Sunday was a let down. It turned out that Emi had a picnic planned for the four of us, despite the impending storm. We made it into the town and sat down when it started to rain. Emi was pissed and she started screaming at the sky, basically not giving a shit that the clouds didn't speak Emi.

We took shelter in the Shanghai, thanks to Rin suggesting it. We stayed in the teahouse for about half an hour before leaving. Surprisingly, the Shanghai actually had customers. Whenever we left, Emi initially wanted to finish our picnic, but she got talked out of it quite easily.

Instead, she insisted that we hurry our slow asses up, because she wanted to run a bit more, despite the rain. I concluded that Emi didn't care about the rain and Hisao concluded that she didn't care about catching a cold, since she ran fast enough to do so.

Back at the dorms, we ran into Kenji, who had a bunch of books. One of the books had something to do with cryptology, something I found weird, even for Kenji. Kenji started yelling at Hisao (but not me) because of not only hanging out with the 'Limbless Wonders,' but going to the Shanghai. It was quite the spectacle.

However, something must have happened to Emi. The next morning, when Hisao and I went to the track for our run, Emi wasn't present. Both of us were late, but that was largely his fault. Normally, Emi would have been bouncing around the track, but she wasn't.

"Dude, where's Emi?" Hisao asked aloud.

"You think I know?" I replied. "For all I know, she got struck by lightning or something."

It was likely, since she told the bad weather to go do some things. To put it nicely, she said for it to go have sex with itself, but she was much more vulgar.

"I doubt that," my companion said. "Plus, don't say crap like that. What if she did?"

"Well, we told her not to run, but she did. Not to mention, her prostheses..."

"Yeah, yeah, she's a freaking lightning rod."

I nodded. "Pretty much."

Hisao shook his head with a slight chuckle. "She's right. You can be an ass."

"I'm glad you noticed."

A cool breeze blew by. It was raining until a few hours prior, so the tarmac was still wet, as was the grass.

"Should we run?" Hisao asked.

"Don't want her jumping all over you, do you?"

He shook his head. "Not in that way."

I cocked an eyebrow. "What do..." I shook my head, noting that he seemed to have a thing for Emi. "Never mind. We may as well stretch."

He bent over. "Way ahead of you." His voice was slightly mocking.

My hand grabbed his wrist and he looked at me, shocked.

"I'm serious," I said. "If you pull a muscle, tear a tendon, whatever, don't cry to me."

He snatched his wrist back. "Trust me, I'll stretch."

I nodded. "Good. Wouldn't want Emi to have to see you laid out, right?"

Hisao put his head down at my comment and stretched more thoroughly than he ever did before.

I could have up and left, Emi being none the wiser, but Hisao was there. With my luck, and Hisao's mouth, Emi would have found out I skipped a day, nagging me up and down the Great Red Wall of Communist China. Plus, Hisao would have skipped out, too, and he needed the workouts more than I did.

Fast forward forty minutes, and we were finishing up. I wasn't tired at all, since I kept pace with Hisao. Towards the end of the run, a worried expression started to grow over his face.

"Are you that worried about Emi?" I asked when we were walking our cool down laps.

"No." I glared at him as he tried to lie. His head hung. "Yeah, I am."

"I'm sure she's fine. Come on, yesterday she was ready to hand the sky its own ass."

Hisao laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I wasn't convinced, but my thoughts didn't leave my head. We finished the walk and Hisao headed to the nurse.

The nurse told me that I actually didn't need to run in the morning anymore, at least not until track season ended. I wasn't sure when that was, but it seemed like it was around August, when the summer break started. I didn't have to check up with the nurse because of that, but Hisao did.

I headed back to the dorms and showered up. Slipping into some clean clothes and slinging my bag on, I carried out into the hall. Hisao caught up to me on the stairs outside of the dorm.

"So, Emi's fine," he said. "Just a little sick."

I laughed. "You really went to find out?"

"Yeah. Is that a bad thing?"

I shook my head. "I guess that the cold caught her, instead."

Hisao gave me a strange look, but we pressed onward. Once in class, the day passed, as normal as ever. Mutou lectured about chemistry, my preferred science subject. We were covering advanced chemistry, but the material was easy. Hisao and I knew the material fairly well, so that meant that we both just stared blankly. Hisao didn't seem it, but he was quite the science geek.

In the middle of his lectures, Mutou would randomly call someone out and ask them a question. It was either to assess if someone was paying attention or if they understood. Whenever Hisao or I got called, we answered correctly almost all the time. However, Mutou didn't call on Hisao or me, not even the usually clueless Misha.

"Now... Ikezawa?" Mutou said.

Hanako sprang to her feet, eyes locked onto Mutou. "Y-yes?"

Mutou cleared his throat. "In this particular example of a redox reaction, the combustion of methane reaction actually produces one more product than is listed. That product is...?"

_Easy,_ I thought. _The warm stuff, you know, heat._

The question was exactly as I thought, easy. It was an advanced chemistry lecture, but the question was completely simple. Hanako, however, bit her lower lip as she concentrated.

"Um..." she choked out. "H-heat?"

"Well done," Mutou said, going on to explain that it was an exothermic reaction.

He then assigned us work to do for the remainder of class in groups of three to four. I joined Miki and Suzu, since they waved me over. Well, Miki did. Suzu would have flipped me the bird, had she not been drooling on her book.

"Is Suzu going to contribute?" I asked as my desk connected with hers.

"Doubt it," Miki said. "She was pretty pissed that you beat her in _Battleship_ Saturday."

"I told her to keep playing _Life_."

Miki laughed. "That you did." She smacked the book with her hand. "You understand this crap?"

I nodded. "Somehow."

"Well, that's a rel-"

She stopped abruptly, staring next to me.

"Heya Hanako," my handless friend said.

_Hanako?_ I thought as my head spun around. Sure enough, Hanako was standing beside me. I was completely oblivious to her presence.

"Oh, hey Hanako," I said.

"C-c-can I-I..." she paused and took a deep breath. "Work w-with..."

Miki nodded. "Sure, Hanako. Knock yourself out."

It seemed as though Hanako was about to take Miki seriously, but she quickly dragged a desk over next to me. Suzu woke up as Hanako sat.

"Dammit Miki," Suzu said. "How many people do you plan on inviting to this party?"

Miki playfully smacked Suzu. "As many as I want, since I can actually stay awake."

"Be careful," Suzu said, her head on her arm. "The leader of Nazi Germany may usurp you."

There was laughter from the group, Hanako surprisingly included. She more or less just let a giggle slip, but quickly caught herself. It was a big move for her to join a group, even if I was in it, and I felt a strange sensation of joy from Hanako seemingly breaking through her shell. Even Suzu's insults couldn't bring me down from it.

Though no one would have expected it, the class went smoothly. Hanako worked well with Miki and Suzu, much to my surprise. Occasionally, my eyes would stray over towards Hisao's group, where Misha would stare at me with very wide eyes. People around us were staring, but not at me, like Misha was.

_I'm gonna ask her what her deal is later_, I thought.

The desks got replaced shortly before the lunch bell rang, and when I went to talk to Hanako, she was gone. Misha and Shizune disappeared as well, so I was slightly concerned, and with good reason. My suspicion was that the Student Council started an interrogation on Hanako.

"So, I guess you're alone for lunch?" Miki asked.

"Nah," I said. "I've got you and Suzu."

"Oh great," Suzu said. "Now he's forcing himself upon us, Miki. I can't believe you're still letting him near us. I can smell rapist."

Miki laughed. "If so, you reek of chloroform."

"Now _that_ was bad," I said.

Miki slugged me on the arm. "It was true though. Anyway, yeah, you can join us for lunch."

"I don't want to eat lunch with a rapist!" Suzu exclaimed. Luckily, the noise from the class drowned her out so only we could hear. "He might rape me when I'm sleeping!"

I grinned. "Then don't fall asleep, Suzu."

Thus, Suzu stayed wide awake during lunch. She constantly thought ill of me, much to my displeasure. Miki said that was just how she was, but I had my doubts. I was called Hitler numerous times throughout my school years, but never had anyone called me a rapist for no reason.

Lunch, and the rest of the day for that matter, passed with haste. Before long, I was in my room, pacing back and forth, trying to think of something to do. Hisao had went to check on Emi. He wasn't on the roof for lunch, either. A can of soda was set on my desk, a drink occasionally being taken by me.

Whilst pacing, a knock came from my door.

"Dammit Kenji," I sighed. "What now?"

My hand turned the knob and snapped back, revealing a confused Lilly. I was confused just as much.

"Oh, Lilly," I said. "How are you?"

She smiled. "I'm doing well, Adolf," she said. "May I come in?"

"Uh, sure, come on in."

"Thank you." She walked into my room, gently tapping her cane in front of her.

I took her hand and led her to my bed. "Sit here."

Lilly smiled. "My my, how astute. Thank you."

I sat in the chair at my desk. "So, what do you need?"

I assumed it was fairly important, since she came to my room. If it wasn't, she wouldn't have ventured into the boys' dorm.

"A couple things, actually."

"Shoot."

Lilly nodded, clearing her throat. "Well, let us start with the least important stuff. Is Hisao dating Miss Ibarazaki?"

I sighed. "I'd rather not start gossiping, but I have my suspicions. Why?"

"Because I ran into him in the library at lunch today. He mentioned that she was ill and he planned on checking up on her this afternoon."

"So he said. Now I certainly hope that you're not here just for that."

"Goodness no," she said, switching to English. "In fact, I have some rather disheartening news."

I sipped my soda and observed Lilly's face. She was completely serious, her lips curved into a slight frown and her brow furrowed.

"I assume it's something serious," I said.

Lilly nodded, her expression not changing. "My aunt has fallen gravely ill." She closed her eyes. "I'm afraid I'm going to be heading back to Scotland to visit her, and to spend some time with my family."

"Das ist nicht gut," I said. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is she going to be okay?"

"Last I heard, she was stable." _Bedridden. Better than critical._

"I'm glad she's stable. When are you leaving?"

"Saturday. It's the earliest flight Akira and I could book."

"So, what about Hanako's birthday? I assume you'll be in Scotland for a while."

"You'd be assuming correct. I think it would be our best bet to just cancel, but I'm not sure. I thought I'd talk to you before I took any action."

My brain raced for an answer. I took my ADHD medicine that morning, and despite the fact I despised taking it, it helped immensely. The times it actually helped were rare and that was one of those times. I quickly reached a conclusion.

"We could give Hanako the presents on Thursday and go to karaoke Friday night. Mask the karaoke as a going away party."

"I'm only going to be gone for two weeks at the most, Adolf. It's not like I'm moving back."

"I know, but we could still do that."

"Well, karaoke seems like a bit too much fun for a circumstance such as this."

I sighed, unable to respond. We already had the plans for the karaoke, and I really wanted to go. It was selfish and cruel of me, but I wanted to see Hanako sing, as well as for her to have a good time.

We ended up debating what to do for a good ten minutes. We decided on giving Hanako her gifts Wednesday and waiting on the karaoke. Lilly was going to analyze Hanako's reaction to the former leaving and we would plan where to go from there. When we were done discussing our plans, Lilly stood.

"Thank you for your time," she said. "I must be off."

I stood as well, walking to my door and opening it. "I'll talk to you tomorrow then."

We exchanged our goodbyes and Lilly strolled out of the boys' dorm. My bed called to me, and as soon as my body fell on it, there was another knock on my door.

"Goddammit!" I said as I stood. My door flung open once more, revealing my bespectacled hallmate.

"Dudedudedudedude!" Kenji exclaimed in Japanese, talking as fast as possible.

"What?"

"That blind bitch, man! What the hell was she doing in your room?" His cheeks were red in anger.

"We had to discuss something."

He craned his neck over my shoulder. "Are you sure that was it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Let me check your room." He tried to push past me, but I pushed him back.

"No."

"She could've planted a fucking bomb, dude!"

I wanted Kenji gone. "I severely doubt that."

"I don't."

"Listen, Kenji," I said as I leaned in close to him. "If a bomb goes off in my room tonight, it's my fault, okay? I doubt it would extend to your room."

Kenji shook his head. "I'm not allowing another man to fall victim to their plot!"

"Kenji!" I grabbed his shoulders and shook him for emphasis. "It's the risk I'm willing to take."

He shook off my grip and backed up towards his room. "It's your funeral, man. I'll make sure to give a damn fine eulogy."

He reentered his room and locked the door. My door shut behind me and I flopped on my bed. That only lasted for a couple minutes, because I then remembered track practice, which I had somehow forgotten. Sighing, my clothes were stripped off and the track clothes were put on.

* * *

The next day, Hanako wasn't in class. However, Lilly told me at lunch that Hanako was 'more or less okay' with Lilly having to leave, since it was a family matter. She also said that she didn't come to class for another reason. There was a part of me that doubted that she was fine with Lilly leaving, but Lilly reassured me. Regardless, I still had to buy Hanako a gift other than the German sundress doll.

After lunch, I asked Misha what her deal was.

"What deal, Adolf-chan?" she asked.

"Yesterday, during our group work."

Misha laughed. "Oh, you know. With your two lovers with you and all, it was kind of cute."

"Misha, I'm not dating either of them!"

"You say that now Adolf-chan," she said, leaning in close to me. "You will soon enough, I'm sure!"

I sighed. "Sure, Misha. Since you know all."

She laughed again and grinned. "No, silly! I can just tell! Besides, I think you and Micchan would make for a cute couple."

While I didn't blush, I didn't have a reply. Fortunately, Misha walked away, staring out the door. Wondering what she was looking at, my neck craned over her shoulder just enough to see Hisao and Emi share a brief kiss.

_Hisao, you Master of Romance, you,_ I thought. When Hisao opened the door, Misha was right there, laughing.

"Why Hicchan, you romantic, you!" she giggled. "Did you confess on the rooftop? Did you?"

Hisao wasn't embarrassed for once. "Actually, I think it was the other way around."

Misha started to laugh even more. "Young love is so unpredictable, isn't it?"

"I guess," came Hisao's reply.

Mutou entered the room shortly afterward, so the two took their seats. Misha was in a giggle fit the whole time. When Hisao sat down, he seemed to be daydreaming more than usual. Mutou even noticed, since he called on Hisao a couple times, receiving no response.

"Nakai? Hello?" the teacher said for the fourth time.

"Huh? What?" my friend said, waking up.

"Egad!" the science teacher exclaimed. "You've contracted some kind of amnesia! Someone get the nurse!"

The entire class, barring Hisao, started laughing. Misha laughed harder than everyone, to the point of slapping her desk.

"Sorry, sir," Hisao replied.

"Hmm, won't happen again and all that, right?"

"Exactly."

Mutou's expression lightened. "Well! Lovely to hear! I'd hate to have one of my star pupils slacking off, after all."

_Star pupils? _I thought. I knew Hisao was Mutou's favorite, but I wondered who the other was.

Despite wanting to ask Hisao a question, Mutou forgot and just continued the lesson, with Hisao keeping true to his word.

After class, Mutou asked Hisao to stay for a while after class. I told Hisao I'd talk to him later and I walked into the hall. As soon as my body was in the hall, hands covered my eyes.

"Guess who?" a certain bubbly voice asked.

"I don't know. Shizune?" I replied sarcastically.

Misha removed her hands from my eyes. "No, silly. Shicchan can't talk!"

Shizune, who was behind her, started signing.

"Well, she can, but only with her hands and... what's that, Shicchan? Oh, and her actions!"

"What do you want, Misha?" I asked, slightly pressed for time.

"Well, for one, Hicchan made a move, why can't you?"

I sighed, exasperated. "Misha, maybe I'm just waiting for the right moment."

Misha's eyes widened. "So you do like one of them!"

"NO! I never said that!" _You never _said _it,_ my brain teased.

Misha giggled. "Adolf-chan, you're so cute when you're frustrated!"

"I'm glad you think so."

Misha beamed. "Really?" I nodded tiredly. "Well then! Shicchan wants to know if you'd like to have dinner with us!"

_I've got plans..._ "No," I said, shaking my head. "While I'd love to, I have to go into the city for something."

"Is it a date?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

She shrugged. "Is it karaoke?"

"No, sadly."

"Aww," Misha pouted. "Well, we were just going to the Shanghai again, anyway."

"Maybe next time."

"No! Next time, you're taking us out to karaoke! We didn't forget, Adolf-chan!"

"Nor did I, Misha. I'm a little pressed for time, so while I'd love to stay and chat with you, I have to get a move on."

"Well, alright then. See you!"

And just like that, the Student Council left me to my own devices. Misha's insistence for me to make a move on Miki and/or Hanako was getting on my nerves. I seriously wondered why she was so interested in my personal life, given that she never seemed to go out with anyone. She was always with Shizune. _Maybe that's why she's so interested,_ I thought. _Since she's tied up with Shizune all the time, she can't go out with any guys. Shizune would ruin it._

My legs moved, ready to leave the hallway, when the door to 3-3 opened. Hisao exited, giving me a surprised look.

"You waited for me?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. The Student Council happened." We started to walk together. "So, you doing anything this evening?" Curiosity always got the best of me.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

"In that case, yeah, I am."

"Really? Like what?"

I could tell Hisao had his head in the clouds again, given the way he smiled. "A date with Emi."

My hand balled up and lightly smacked his arm. "Look at you, man."

He laughed. "Yeah... What about you and Miki?"

My legs froze. "Why does everyone think there's something going on between us?"

"Because it seems like there is."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I've heard a couple girls, notably Molly, say that you've showed up in the girls' dorm just to visit Miki. They even said that you ran through the dorm with a couple pizzas."

My legs thawed as I grinned at that memory. "Yeah... wait, who's Molly?"

"Indian girl, sits in front of us."

"Oh, her." She was legless, like Emi. However, her prostheses looked more like Terminator legs. "Still, I don't see why everyone thinks that."

"There are some who think the same about you and Hanako."

"Kind of figured. But like I said about Miki, there's nothing going on."

Hisao grinned. "Sure about that?"

"Positive."

Hanako was just a good friend. While I will admit that I found her cute, there could never be anything between us. Miki was similar. She was attractive, very much so, but the chances of anything happening seemed slim. We were good friends as well, but Suzu be damned if it went any further.

"I don't know, dude," Hisao said as we left the lobby. He looked around. "Hey, don't you have track practice?"

I nodded. "Yoshimata knows that I don't come every so often, though."

"Thought he was supposed to make sure everyone showed up."

"He lets me slide."

The rest of the walk back to the dorms was filled with idle chatter between us, mainly about Hisao's excitement to go on a date with Emi.

"Talk to you later," I said when we reached our rooms. "Oh, and hope the date goes well."

He grinned. "Thanks man." He turned to go into his room, but he stopped. "Hey, there's something I want to talk to you about sometime."

"We'll talk about it then. Not right now, but some other time."

"Alright, then. See ya." He entered his room.

I dropped my bag off in my room and grabbed my wallet and my iPod. Almost immediately after, I dashed out of my room and headed towards the gates.

The sun was beaming down on me outside of the gates, humidity smothering the air. There were several people standing outside, also waiting for the bus. No cool breezes blew by, making the humidity more miserable.

As our collective group waited for the bus, I looked over the people in the group. The albino girl from my last bus ride into the city was there, her silvery hair reflecting light. This time, however, she was waiting with someone. That someone was a man who was wearing a hat and a school uniform. He was at an angle where I couldn't make out his hair color or any notable facial features.

"Chert," I heard him say. _Russian?_

"What?" the albino girl asked.

The Russian-speaking student shook his head. "Nothing. It's just really humid."

For some reason, he seemed familiar. Shaking my head, I passed it off as my mind tricking me. The albino girl, however, did seem familiar. I knew I saw her on the bus Saturday, but there was somewhere else I'd seen her.

While my brain was fighting with itself for a conclusion, the city bus climbed up the hill. Quickly turning around, its doors opened and students piled in. While my brain was fighting with itself for a conclusion, the city bus climbed up the hill. Quickly turning around, its doors opened and students piled in. I boarded the bus and took a seat near the back. The two I'd observed earlier were sitting together.

_Must be a couple,_ I thought. I was pretty sure people thought the same when Miki and I sat together, and again when it was me and Lilly. Despite that, no rumors that involved me dating either of the girls reached my ears, except the accusations from Misha.

The bus ride was long, a fact gathered from my two previous rides into the city. Thinking ahead, I produced my iPod and its earphones and started listening to music, the noise from the other passengers uninteresting to me.

Roughly an hour later and we arrived in the city. I got off the bus and started retracing the steps Lilly and I took the Saturday before. My objective was a bookstore, which I hoped would be open on a Tuesday.

I wasn't exceptional at navigating city streets. That quality of me showed when I ended up walking around the same block three times.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my hair. _I'll have to ask someone._ My eyes darted around the street, attempting to focus on someone who looked friendly. Eventually, my eyes focused on a girl with long black hair. She was definitely a high school student, but an inner-city one.

"Um, excuse me," I said as the distance between us closed.

"Yes?" the girl asked. Japanese girls are cute, as I once said, and this girl was no exception.

"Uh..." _What was I going to ask again? ... That's right, the bookstore! _"Do you know where the nearest bookstore is?"

She giggled, probably at my inability to answer at first. However, she did give me the directions I needed.

"Thank you...?" I said, unaware of her name.

"Iwanako," she said.

"First name?" I asked. She nodded. "I'm Adolf, pleased to meet you."

"Well, Adolf, you're welcome. Maybe we'll meet again."

"Maybe," I said. "Have a nice day, Iwanako."

"You too, Adolf."

We parted ways and I made my way to the bookstore. It turned out that I passed by it several times, but I never turned towards it. Feeling stupid, I pulled the door open and entered. The door chimed, as most store doors did, and the cashier looked at me.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Can I help you with anything?"

_Actually... _"Yes, if you wouldn't mind."

Twenty minutes later, I left the bookstore with a brand new book. The man at the register listened to what I told him and concluded that Hanako would enjoy that book: "The Cuckoo's Calling." Apparently, it was written by J.K. Rowling, and the Harry Potter novels were good, so I didn't question his judgment. Well, I did at first, when he suggested "Everyone Burns."

The bus had yet to arrive, so I strolled over to the French café near the bus station and ordered some coffee. _Too bad I never learned French,_ I thought.

The waiter came back with my coffee. The same waiter that Miki and I left frustrated a couple weeks before. Luckily, he didn't recognize me from before. Thanking and paying him, my hand brought the cup to my lips.

The wait for the bus dragged on. Once my coffee was finished, I hopped to my feet, completely impatient. At the bus station, the listings said that the bus back to Yamaku was due to arrive anytime. My arm started idly swinging as I waited, the bag that was in my hand being rocked back and forth.

When the bus finally arrived, my ass was the first on, retaking my seat in the back. Before long, the bus parted from the station, and my mind wandered around. Resigning to the boredom that was waiting on the bus, I slipped my earphones in and listened to more music.

My eyes were trained on the scenery outside of the window the entire time. Though it didn't seem like it took a long time, the bus eventually passed through the small town down the hill from the school. The engine droned as it started climbing the hill.

Once the bus reached the top of the hill and turned around, my presence was removed from the bus rather quickly. With any luck, no one would question where I went, nor ask about the bag in my hand.

Once the bag was safely placed in my room, I loosened my tie and sat down. Leaning back, my mind wandered to Misha's actions that day. More and more, she reminded me of my sister. Always bugging me to get a girlfriend, always so giddy, so loud, so... happy.

I sighed, sadness in that sigh, and stood. My eyes wandered to look out of my window, catching Hisao and Emi kiss as they said goodbye.

"They've been dating for not even a day and they're kissing like it's second nature," I said. It was merely a conjecture, since I'd only seen them kiss twice. It seemed likely that they kissed more than twice, though.

_Adolf, sit on me,_ my bed beckoned. Planting my butt on my bed, I lied down and rolled on my side.

_Wonder how Kenji's gonna take to the two kissing,_ I thought.

Kenji, however, never left his room, so Hisao managed to get away with murder. My eyes drifted to my bag, which had some homework inside. Just as my body started to get comfortable, the dreaded homework came to mind. Reluctantly, I got to my feet and grabbed the homework.

_Tomorrow's Hanako's party,_ I thought. _There'll be time for fun then._

Reassuring myself was hard, since it was unclear just how fun the gift-giving aspect would have been. Were it the karaoke portion being the next day, I would've been convinced as soon as the thought arose.

"Only time will tell," I mused aloud as I worked on the chemistry homework.

* * *

**AN: Like I said, this chapter was dialogue heavy. Regardless, this story is far from being over. I know some are thinking that, since Hanako's birthday is around the corner, the story's gonna end there. Well, you're WRONG!**

**Yes, the Iwanako that Adolf met is the same Iwanako that Hisao HNNNNNNNGed over. However, it was merely a brief appearance, so don't think she's going to be a frequent character.**

**This chapter, like chapter fifteen, underwent some changes. Originally, the second day didn't start at lunch, it actually started as he was waiting for the bus. The dialogue was severely cut back. Also, Adolf originally met Suzu in the city, as opposed to Iwanako. I also was about to write in that Adolf took French in the US, but I decided against it. He would have had a short conversation with the waiter at the French café. I have no idea why I'm mentioning these changes, maybe just because I can.**

**Yes, Adolf bought her a book. Any problems? Wanna fight about it? No? Good.**

**The albino girl should be obvious, and if you read any other KS fanfics, so should the Russian-speaking guy.**

**Again, I accept suggestions, criticism, reviews, and the like. I'm already writing the next chapter, but it may not be up for a while, so I hope this double upload will do until then. However, I will not answer any possibly story-spoiling questions. That's no fun for you or any other readers.**

**Before I end this chapter, I would like to say that I did upload the placeholder cover art. It's not amazing, something I just threw together in photoshop.**


	17. Departure Party

Chapter Seventeen: Departure Party

At lunch, I had to meet up with Lilly and find out what time I was to arrive for part one of Hanako's party. Hanako accompanied me to the tea room, but luckily she had to use the bathroom during lunch. Lilly told me that seven was a good time to show up, so I made a note to do so. Track practice was the first thing on my schedule, though.

Fortunately for me, track practice was short, which Emi was unusually absent from. Before long, I was showered up and dressed. As the clock slowly moved towards seven, my legs carried me back and forth through my room. Pacing only seemed natural.

When the clock hit 6:55, the bag with the book in it was grabbed and I left my room. Kenji didn't greet me, much to my pleasure _and_ my dismay. His increasing absence put me on edge.

The girls in the girls dorm didn't pay any attention to me, which I was quite fine with. Making my way to the second floor, I passed Misha. She just grinned and patted me on the shoulder.

_What is up with her? _I thought.

Outside of Lilly's room, my fist lightly pounded on her door.

"Is that you, Adolf?" Lilly's voice emanated from inside.

"Yes."

There was a degree of silence, the only sound being light footsteps. The lock was undone and the door cracked open, a wisp of dark hair flowing by. I pushed the door completely open as Hanako sat back down. She flashed a smile and nodded as I closed the door.

"Lock the door?" I asked. She likely had a reason for locking it in the first place.

Lilly nodded and I complied, taking a seat at the little table in the center of the room. The girls were dressed in their pajamas, a sight I had yet to get over. My bag was placed next to me, but it wasn't the only bag in the room. Next to Lilly was a brown paper bag, something I tried peeking into. Hanako tried the same, to no avail.

Hanako herself was rather calm, something that surprised me quite a bit. From what Lilly said, I thought she would have been much more apprehensive about this party. _Well, she did say that Hanako was fine with it afterward..._

My curiosity raged.

"Lilly, what's in that bag?"

Lilly smiled. "That would be Akira's present. Unfortunately, she said she was working and can't join us." As she was talking, her hand dipped into the bag and pulled out two bottles of wine.

_Just great,_ I thought. _Red wine, white wine... Why is there wine anyway?_ I didn't drink, like I once told Kenji.

"I guess your sister approves of underage drinking?" I asked in English.

Lilly giggled. "A little bit shouldn't hurt," she said in Japanese. The way she said that made me uneasy, but I didn't voice my concern.

_It's supposed to be a party, right? _I thought. _You don't have to drink. Wait, do the Scottish have, like, iron stomachs for alcohol? No. That's the Irish..._

"Well, if it's from your sister..." I decided to crack a stereotype. "Though I'd prefer vodka or lager."

Hanako's eyes widened and Lilly put her hand up to her mouth. "My my, quite the drinker, are we?" Lilly said

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I don't drink."

Hanako's eyes softened and Lilly just smiled. "Well, there's a first for everything."

My eyes were the ones to widen then. Just then, there was a knock on the door, causing Lilly to close her eyes and Hanako to become skittish.

"Who is it?" Lilly asked.

"Lemme in, I'm cold!" the person who was knocking said.

Lilly's eyes opened and sighed in relief. "Hanako, could you get the door?"

Hanako seemed to recognize the voice, but couldn't put her finger on it. As she stood, she messed with her gown and opened the door. A blonde haired person in a pinstriped suit stood outside.

"Happy birthday, Hanako," the person said.

"Th-thank you... Akira..."

_So Lilly's sister likes to look dapper, huh?_

She entered the room behind Hanako, the door shutting behind them. Akira herself was... androgynous. She was wearing a man's suit, had a fairly deep voice, and lacked in a certain area of feminine quality. She dropped on the floor, opposite me. _Does she have red eyes?_

"It's nice to have your company after all, Akira," Lilly said. "Did work let you off?"

"Yep. I have to go back there in a bit, but I managed to get enough of a break to drive down." Akira's red eyes looked me over. "So, this is the Adolf you spoke of?" She seemed pretty confident about herself.

_Formalities really aren't observed here, it seems,_ I thought.

"That would be me," I said. "Pleased to meet you, Akira."

"Well," Lilly said. "It seems like you two are acquainted now. I apologize for not introducing you two."

"Nah, it's fine," I said. "That's actually how I'm used to doing things."

My eyes wandered over to Hanako, who actually seemed very relaxed. She must've known Akira for a while, since she was completely at ease.

"Well then," Akira said. "I assume the presents got through? No point in waiting, considering the birthday girl looks pretty eager."

Akira was right. Hanako seemed eager to drink the wine, probably too much so, since she hopped up to get glasses while Akira popped the cork off the red wine. I had no idea which had less alcohol, so I just started filling the glasses with red wine when Hanako placed them on the table.

Once all the glasses were full, Akira raised her glass in a toast. Hanako and I followed suit. Lilly eventually raised her glass, after her sister nudged her. There wasn't anything being said, so Akira took charge.

"Here's to Hanako!" she said.

"And to you guys' trip!" I added awkwardly.

The awkwardness was overlooked as there was a unified "Cheers!" and all four of us sipped the wine. I didn't want to, but I got caught in the moment. The taste was... fruity. It wasn't unpleasant at all, so I took a second sip.

_Not bad,_ I thought.

Akira seemed to notice my involuntary facial expressions. "You know, if it isn't to your liking, I have some other varieties to choose from." _It's not actually displeasing or anything..._

I cocked an eyebrow. "You seem like you know your crap."

"With wines? I guess. I prefer beer. I have the drinking side down pat, though."

Though I didn't initially understand what she meant, I got the idea when she refilled her glass and subsequently downed it. The act doesn't surprise me, since people have done it in front of me before, namely my uncle. The man was an avid whiskey drinker, a habit he picked up from serving in the USAF.

"Anyway," Lilly said, sipping at her wine. "Now that Akira's gift has been opened and sampled, shall we move onto ours?"

"G-gifts?" Hanako asked. _She was merely told of a tea party, _I assumed.

"That's right, we got you presents," Lilly said. "It's your birthday, after all."

Hanako was grimacing at the thought of getting presents, oddly. Lilly said that birthday's weren't Hanako's thing, but turning down presents? That's beyond abnormal, even for someone like her.

Lilly produced a bundle of wrapping paper, which I presumed was the Victorian English doll she purchased.

"This is from me," she said as she passed it to Hanako.

The way Hanako handled the doll, and the wrapping paper itself, was similar to handling a priceless work of art. She was extremely careful, not even tearing the wrapping paper to shreds. She instead pulled it off in an orderly fashion, slowly revealing the doll itself.

"It's... beautiful," Hanako said as she stared at the doll.

Lilly passed me the sundress doll as Hanako marveled. I was unsure about giving Hanako the German doll, since she seemed to love the doll from Lilly.

"I'm glad you like it," Lilly said. "Adolf picked it out, to be honest."

_No, I didn't,_ I thought. _I just helped find it._ While I thought that, I put the doll I bought Hanako in the bag with the book and raised it above the table.

"And this is from me," I said.

Hanako's eyes sparkled. Whether it was from forming tears or just the way the light reflected, I couldn't tell. She carefully placed Lilly's doll down next to her and just as gently took the bag. She took the book out first, soundlessly placing it next to Lilly's doll.

She took the sundress doll and unwrapped it in the same way she had Lilly's. When the doll itself was visible, Hanako ran her fingers over it, in the same amount of awe as before. After a few moments, she gently set it down next to her other gifts.

I hadn't noticed before, but the dolls Lilly and I bought resembled the two friends. The one Lilly bought resembled her, while the one I bought resembled the birthday girl. It seemed that Hanako noticed as well.

"Th-thank you... all three of you..." Hanako said, something like joy in her voice.

"It's no problem," Akira said, ruffling Hanako's hair.

"Yeah, it is your birthday after all," I said. _Should have said party,_ I thought.

"That's right... my birthday..."

Akira's smile started to become strained.

"That book," I said, trying to make the mood better. "I, uh, I was told it was a great read."

Hanako smiled. "I'll... be sure to r-read it..."

Hanako took her gifts and cradled them in her lap, appearing genuinely pleased. Lilly, Akira, and I sat in silence as Hanako kept cradling her gifts. I felt the corners of my lips extend upwards as I observed my friend cherishing the friendship she had.

Lilly was smiling as well, though she couldn't see the act. Akira, however, was quietly whistling.

"Thank you, Lilly," Hanako said. "A-and you, Adolf."

As she said that, the book slipped and she fumbled to retrieve it. Immediately after, she took a gulp of the wine, as if the alcohol calmed her. I was concerned, but held my tongue.

There was something off about the party, however. One of the most important parts of a birthday party was missing.

"Shit!" I said in English.

Lilly raised an eyebrow, as did her sister. "Lilly, you didn't say he was foul-mouthed," Akira said in English. She was smiling as she said it, so I relaxed.

"What is it, Adolf?" Lilly asked.

Hanako was slightly confused that we were speaking another language, but she took another sip of wine.

"We don't have a cake," I said.

Akira shrugged. "So? We have alcohol. Good enough for me." She rubbed her stomach. "Though, I am a little hungry."

Lilly sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Thanks, sis."

"Anyway, we have time for a cake later," Lilly said.

"We do?"

Lilly nodded. I wanted to ask how, but I decided against it. I didn't know if Hanako understood any English, so she would have to be away for us to discuss any further plans.

Regardless, the party continued without cake. I didn't drink any more wine, so Hanako asked if she could have it when she was unable to pour any more for herself. I didn't get to answer as she snatched the glass away and downed the wine. Some of the drink spilled on the table.

"S-sorry Lilly..." Hanako apologized, her speech slurred. "I didn't mean to make a mess... I..."

Quietly, I took a tissue from the table and wiped it off. Meanwhile, Lilly reached over and took the flailing Hanako in her arms.

"It's okay Hanako," Lilly soothed. "I'm just glad you're here."

I felt another smile tug at my lips. The sight of the two friends was really heartwarming. Glancing at Akira, I noticed that she's smiling as well.

_The kind of friendship they have,_ I thought. _It's more like a sisterhood. They have such a strong bond, one that would be damn near impossible to break. Were it to break..._ _It would be unbearable for them._

I had a friend like that. We played hockey together. We supplemented each other during games, almost always being on the same line. Outside of hockey, we were best friends. He attended my sister's funeral when I couldn't and visited me in the hospital when no one else did.

I quit reminiscing as the two broke apart, ever-so-slowly. I looked at the wine bottles, noting that the red wine was completely empty. Hanako seemed fairly drunk, but she and Lilly managed to open the white wine in a joint effort.

"Looks like you're enjoying the wine, then," Akira said. "Just don't go crazy with it after this."

The other two nod hastily and Akira's gaze swept over to me as the other two began refilling the glasses.

"What, you don't drink?" she asked. She raised an eyebrow when Hanako took my red wine, but just now asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"Huh."

I laughed. "You would think that an American who's descended from Russians and Germans would love the bottle," I joked in English.

Akira chuckled. "True."

The two of us held random conversation, mainly about life in America. Hanako was downing glasses of wine like an alcoholic, which I started to think she was. Lilly drank the wine at a relaxed pace, and Akira would take a gulp every now and then.

Before long, the white wine was completely gone, with Akira drinking straight out of the bottle towards the end. Lilly had a couple hiccups and reddened cheeks while her sister was completely normal, whistling as if she was drinking water. Hanako was the worst off. Her speech was pretty slurred and she was swaying around.

Hanako hiccuped and accidentally knocked her dolls over, grimacing when her slowed mind processed what she had done.

"I... think I should go to bed," Hanako said. I could barely understand her. "T-thank you, Adolf, thanks Lilly and Aaaakiraaaa..."

I started laughing at Hanako's butcher of Akira's name. She herself barely avoided a giggle fit as she slurred the name. My laughing caused Hanako to laugh, to the point where she was rolling on the floor, literally.

I stood and extended my hand to my intoxicated friend. "Hanako, let me help you up." A few more giggles later, Hanako took my hand. I scooped up her gifts in my free hand.

Hanako was stumbling the whole way, her arm slung around my shoulder. I opened the door to her room, which I found to be rather... bland, for lack of a better word. She clumsily spun around and took the dolls out of my hand, carefully placing them on a shelf next on her dresser. Actially, she placed them as carefully as a drunken girl could. I set the book on her desk.

"There you go..." she said, hiccuping. "you'll be safe in here..."

There was another doll on the shelf. It had light green eyes and light ginger hair, reminding me of Emi for some reason.

_How odd,_ I thought. _Hanako, Lilly, and Emi... Emi certainly doesn't fit in the group._

Hanako stood straight after fussing with the dolls' dresses, but in doing so, she stumbled. She managed to right herself, thankfully. After a couple more seconds, she started swaying back and forth.

"Do you need to li-"

My sentence was interrupted as she spun around and wrapped her arms around me in an embrace, placing her head against my chest. I gulped nervously, the awkwardness of the situation becoming even more prevalent.

I did the only natural thing a friend could do. I wrapped my outstretched arms around her body, in what I hoped was a friendly embrace. In doing so, I could smell the wine that emanated from her breath.

My hand moved up and down her back. "You go to sleep now, okay?" I whispered. _God, I feel like an idiot. Talking to her like a kid._

"But I want to staaaay with you and Lilleeee..."

_Does she want...? No, that can't be right. No._ I could have offered to stay the night, sleeping in a chair, but even then, someone would notice and suspect the worst.

"Hanako," I said firmly. "I can't."

"But whyyyy?" She was really drunk.

"Because people will get the wrong idea. Besides, I'll see you later anyway." In an attempt to reassure her, I patted her head.

She wasn't going to have any of it. She nuzzled her head against my chest, clearly displeased with the thought of me leaving. Her arms tightened around my back. She moved her arms downward, discomforting me. I tried to break the grip, but she managed to pull me back.

We awkwardly landed on her bed, me on top of her. She was still firmly gripping me, but she was giggling the whole time. The way she was gripping me wasn't good for me. Attempting to break free would just result in her getting hurt.

We stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Her hair was splayed on her bed, revealing the other half of her face. The scars stretched all over the right half of her face, and judging from the scarring on her neck, most of the right half of her body.

She was intensely focused on my blue eyes, while I had no choice but to stare into her purple eyes.

A part of me screamed to kiss her, just go all the way, but another part of me knew how wrong it was. She was drunk, not in her right state of mind... _But still, she wouldn't be this assertive if she didn't ha-_

My thoughts were interrupted as Hanako pulled me down on her, trying to kiss me. I managed to move my head just enough to where she planted her lips on my cheek. She also smacked her nose on my cheekbone, so she reeled back in discomfort, her arms loosening. I hopped off of her and her bed at that moment.

"But..." Hanako said as I neared the door.. "But... I-I don't want you to gooo..."

"Hanako, I'm sorry, but I have to." _Damn straight._

She pouted and started flailing about in her bed like a child. A few moments later, she stopped. Her eyes closed and she fell asleep. I turned her light off and slipped out of her room, my heart racing.

"Fick mich," I said. _Hanako was about to, dude. _I quickly stepped into Lilly's room.

"Is that you Adolf?" Lilly asked as I closed the door. The sisters were sitting next to each other, smiling.

"Yeah. I got Hanako to bed."

"That's good," Lilly said. "I have to admit, I hadn't thought that she'd drink quite so much."

"Hey, it's fine," Akira said. "She's all safe and tucked up in bed now. With the way she is..." She trailed off awkwardly.

Silence lingered between the three of us. Akira yawned, breaking the silence.

"Well, I'd better get going," the suited woman said. "I'm already going to be a bit late as it is."

"But, it's already so late," Lilly said, sounding like she was complaining.

"Sorry sis. We got a bunch of work dropped on us, so overtime it is." She got up and pushed past me, turning around almost immediately. "You haven't forgotten about the time for the flight and the rest?"

"Don't worry. I have everything ready. It's just a matter of packing when it gets closer to the time to leave."

"'Atta girl," Akira said in English. "I'll see you guys later, then." Lilly said goodbye and I had my hand raised in goodbye.

After Akira left, I turned to Lilly. "Are you sure your sister isn't actually your brother?"

Lilly laughed. "I'm sure."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. The whole time, I was mulling over Hanako's desire for me to stay. I may have been overthinking it, but it seemed like she wanted more than for me to stay. Something more intimate, otherwise, she wouldn't have pulled me on top of her and then try to kiss me.

"So," I finally said. "Have you decided about the karaoke night?" I didn't want to keep thinking about Hanako's drunken actions.

"Yes," Lilly said. "I have."

"And?"

"Friday night."

"Really?" I ran my hand through my hair.

Lilly nodded. "I think she'll be able to handle it. It's going to be us three and Akira."

"Sounds like a plan. Are we getting a cake for then?"

"Yes. It was a good thing there wasn't any cake this time. Cake and alcohol..." She smiled. "They don't go together that well, sometimes."

I gave her a confused look, knowing full well it was for naught. Sighing, I dropped the look. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow. Assuming you get up."

Lilly chuckled. "What about Hanako?"

"I doubt she's gonna get up. Did you..." _No, she didn't see, dumbass. _"She drank an awful lot. I only had a couple sips."

Lilly nodded. "I know. Well, you should be off. We don't want anyone getting the wrong idea, now would we?"

"No, most definitely not." I opened the door. "Talk to you tomorrow, Lilly." Lilly held up her hand in the universal 'goodbye.'

* * *

Hanako, Hisao, and Lilly were all absent the next day. Hanako was obviously going to miss, but I hadn't expected Lilly to. Hisao was just thrown into the mix.

_Hanako likely has a hangover worse than the one Kenji had,_ I thought as I moved my desk to work with Miki and Suzu. Mutou was lecturing history again, something with the Muromachi period.

During the actual lecture, I couldn't pay attention. The events of that specific period bored me. Kyoto got captured, the empire was reunited, a civil war started, Shinto became popular, peace with China was pursued... I had to stifle numerous yawns during the lecture, especially when China was mentioned.

The work itself was just answering questions, which was quite easy. Miki showed no interest in the subject either, but we managed. Suzu slept through the lecture, but managed to answer some questions.

Misha and Shizune were lagging behind, actually finishing after my group. Then again, Hisao wasn't there. I actually wondered why he wasn't in class, since he barely missed.

My lunch was spent with Miki and Suzu on the roof. Neither Emi or Rin were on the roof, much to my surprise. _Come to think of it, I haven't really seen Emi that much._ I voiced my concern to Miki.

"I really don't know where she is," she said. "Why does it matter anyway?"

I shrugged. "Hell if I know."

My body tipped to one side as she pushed me. "How don't you know?" I shrugged again and she gave me a cold, hard stare.

"Maybe he wants her," Suzu said, eating a rice ball.

"Pfft, sure," I said, sarcastically.

"That reminds me," Miki said. "What were you doing in Lilly's room last night?"

"How'd you know I was there? Better yet, how does what Suzu said remind you of that?"

Miki shrugged to the latter question. "Misha mentioned it."

I sighed. Misha passed by me, but I didn't think she would have watched me go into Lilly's room. Misha also knew about me frequenting Miki's room, so I wouldn't have been surprised if she suspected something between Hanako and myself, too. _Though anything that happened was purely one-sided._

"Well, if you want to know, we held a small birthday party for Hanako," I said. The party already passed, so there didn't seem to be any harm in mentioning it.

"Was it really a birthday party?" Suzu asked.

"Suzu, just stop accusing me of being a rapist," I said. _If anyone was about to be a rapist, it was Hanako._

Miki ignored my little bout with Suzu. "Well, that was nice, I guess. How'd it go?"

_Well, Hanako and Lilly both got hungover, and Hanako forced herself upon me... or did she force herself under me? Whatever._

"Fine, I guess. Hanako seemed happy."

"That's nice to hear," Miki said nodding. "I just hav-"

"So why isn't she in class?" Suzu interjected.

I held my hand up. "Don't even think I did anything dirty."

Miki frowned at Suzu, but the narcoleptic continued. "Well, why isn't she here? Clearly something went down. Maybe you did." I laughed and Miki shuffled awkwardly.

"Funny," I said, trying to avoid having to mention the alcohol.

"Okay, Suzu," Miki said. "He said there was a party for her, and now she's not here... That can only mean one thing." _Damn, she's quick._

"What would that be?" Suzu asked.

Miki grinned. "Jeez, it's obvious. She didn't feel like coming. Only idiots come to school after a birthday party."

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth. Miki either knew something prohibited happened or genuinely thought that.

"Doesn't explain Lilly, though," the blue-haired girl said. _There went all hope of escaping this._

Miki shrugged. "Shizune's really hard on her, I think. Maybe she needed a break."

Suzu seemed satisfied with that and continued eating. Miki really did me a favor, even if it was unintentional. After Suzu ate some more, she headed back to class, feeling sleepy.

"Does she always do that?" I asked.

"When she's done, yeah. She heads straight back," Miki answered.

There was a period of silence as the two of us sat, side-by-side. A breeze blew by, sending wisps of her hair into my face. I spat them out and she laughed. The sky was clouded, the sun frequently being covered and uncovered by clouds.

"Say," Miki said. "Do you hold any... feelings towards Hanako?"

"Feelings?" I asked. "If you're asking me if I like her, I do, but only as a friend."

"You really went out of your way for being just a friend."

_What's she trying to imply? That I have stronger feelings for Hanako?_

I shrugged. "Maybe I did."

Miki grinned and punched me in the arm. "Come on, I expected an argument, you wuss."

A laugh escaped my mouth. "Sure you did."

"You bet I did. Don't tell me that Suzu needs to be here for you to get fired up."

I smirked. "Maybe you should start calling me Hitler, then." The lunch bell rang. "Come on, let's go back."

* * *

"What should I wear?" I mused.

In my hands were two shirts, one from my school uniform, and the other a Genesis t-shirt I found at a yard sale. Blue jeans went well with both, but I just couldn't decide.

_It's just a karaoke night. You shouldn't wear a tie. If you do, get a fedora to match, pleb._ I'd concluded before that my thoughts about myself weren't always pleasant. However, it was _just_ a karaoke night with four people. No need to try to look special.

I slipped on my Genesis shirt, an _Invisible Touch_ tour shirt, and slipped out of my room. The sun was setting, casting an orange hue into the dorms.

"Hey man."

I jumped, startled by Kenji's sudden appearance. "Hey, Kenji. What's up?"

He shrugged. "Not much. I missed you yesterday." His eyes drifted up and down. "Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Brave man, I could never do it. Anyway, listen." He pulled me close. "I have a favor to ask of you."

I shuffled slightly, uncomfortable. "What is it?"

"I have one _hell _of a lead. If it's right and all goes well, the entire conspiracy will get blown to shit."

"I don't think I can accompany you."

Kenji shook his head. "No, you can't. It's far too dangerous. There's a chance I may not make it back alive."

_Sounds like serious business._ "Well, damn dude. That's pretty high risk."

Kenji nodded. "It's a risk that I have to take. Should I be successful, humanity will be safe from the feminist threat. Anyway, if I don't make it back, wait three days. Then, go in my room and grab my journal. Send that to the newspapers."

"Er... That's all splendid and I can surely do that..." _No, you can't._ "But where's the journal? Better yet, how the hell do I get in your room?"

Kenji rubbed his eyes. "You can't lockpick?"

"I never said that."

Kenji grinned. _Lie successful. _"Good. The journal is under a false bottom in one of my desk drawers." His head darted around. "I got stuff I gotta do. Last minute prep. See ya."

Just like that, Kenji ran off. I trailed behind him, since I had to meet my three companions at the gate. Akira was supposedly bringing her car, opting to drive us into the city.

The grounds weren't especially crowded. Since classes were still held on Saturdays, not as many students left on Friday nights.

As I walked, I thought back to the events of the day. Hisao showed back up, telling me he fell asleep after some cardiovascular exercise with Emi. He said it was a great workout, involving quite a bit of thrust, but they agreed to not do it again.

_Still sounds fishy to me,_ I thought as I walked across the grounds.

Akira, Lilly, and Hanako were already outside the gates. Lilly was dressed similarly to when we went into the city before, while Akira wore another suit. I wanted to give her a hat and a Thompson, for some reason.

Hanako, however, was dressed more casually, akin to me. She was wearing a jean jacket over a white blouse (or something; women's clothing confuses me), a pair of dark blue jeans, and a black cap.

"Took you long enough," Akira mocked in English. "We coulda drove to Tokyo and back already."

I laughed. "I'll bet. So, should we be going?"

Lilly nodded. "Yes, we should. Are you ready, Hanako?"

Hanako mumbled an affirmative response, so we piled into Akira's car. A quick glance at the grill confirmed it as a Mitsubishi, and a quick glance at the trunk identified it as a Lancer Evo. I didn't think the car came cheap, especially since it looked like a tuner.

I sat in the back with Hanako. Lilly told me that she didn't exactly tell Hanako what we were doing, so Hanako was slightly on edge, with good reason.

The ride to the city was much quicker in Akira's car than it was on the bus. Then again, Akira occasionally sped up to speeds past 130 kilometers per hour. Hanako would hold onto the door or Lilly's seat for dear life whenever Akira decided to do so.

"Hey Akira," I said one time she was speeding. "You should drive in NASCAR."

"Isn't that the American thing where they drive in a circle?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Too bad I like making right turns."

I laughed really hard at that. Akira had a couple chuckles at her joke, herself. Neither Hanako or Lilly understood.

"Well, you'd have fun on the Autobahn then," I remarked when my laughter subsided.

"Damn straight," she said. "I've always wanted to drive on the Autobahn. The Germans have a great idea with that."

Not even thirty minutes passed and we entered the city, the nighttime skyline illuminated by neon lights. Akira pulled the car up to the sidewalk near the karaoke place Lilly and I visited.

"Are we here?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah," Akira said as she patted her sister's leg.

Hanako was concerned. "K-karaoke?"

"You like singing right?" I asked. She nodded slightly. "Well, perfect. It's just the four of us."

"O-okay," she said, anxiety tearing into her words.

We all got out of the car, Akira locking it in the process. Being the gentleman I am, I held the door open for the women. The inside of the karaoke bar wasn't very packed, and before long, we got into our room. The lobby was dark enough to hide Hanako's scars, so she wasn't very fidgety.

"All right, then," Akira announced once the door closed, clapping her hands. "Who's first?"

Lilly raised her hand, asking me to put on a song. Meanwhile, Akira slipped back out of the room to grab the cake she had stashed in the trunk. The song Lilly had me put on was another Japanese one, "Tsunami" by the Southern All Stars.

I was still surprised that she sang so perfectly, but then again, I could never understand Japanese music. In conversation, Japanese was fine with me. In song, I couldn't understand it at all. Akira didn't return after Lilly finished, which was part of the plan. Lilly was met with much applause from Hanako and myself, regardless.

Lilly offered the microphone to Hanako, who was trembling. Initially, Hanako didn't move, but after some coaxing on Lilly's part, Hanako reluctantly took the mic. She was basically seizing, as bad as she was shaking, but she still put on a song. With a long instrumental intro. A _long_ instrumental intro.

At first, I could only hear the actual song being played, since Hanako didn't start singing. Lilly grimaced, so I stood up.

"Hanako," I said as I walked towards her. "No one else can hear us. These walls are soundproof, meaning that only we can hear you."

Indeed the rooms were soundproof. Lilly asked about it over the phone. Despite the fact I wasn't the best at persuasion, especially when it came to Hanako, she nodded and started to quietly sing.

Slowly, her voice rose, and once it reached a certain volume, Akira entered the room. Hanako didn't notice as Akira slid the cake onto the table, disposable utensils right beside it.

_If Hanako ever gets over her social issues,_ I thought as she sang. _She'd make a fine career as a singer._

Her voice, while not angelic, was very soothing. She did have some issues, however, such as the occasional stutter and the uncommon fumble with a word, but that was it. The girl could sing pretty well, and it was a shame not more people would hear her voice.

The song was something I didn't know, since it was also Japanese. When Hanako finished, she was met with six hands clapping, and one Akira 'whoo'-ing. When Hanako turned, there were tears in her eyes, which started sliding down her face when she saw the cake.

Lilly couldn't tell, but Akira and I did. We both rose to our feet and rushed over to Hanako, only for her to pull us both into an embrace. An embrace that was completely different than the one she had me in while she was drunk.

"Th-thank you..." she choked out as tears fell down her face.

"You're welcome," Akira and I said simultaneously.

Eventually, Hanako broke the embrace and continued on to Lilly, locking her in an embrace. Akira and I just watched.

"It's a beautiful thing," Akira said, taking a swig from a beer bottle she brought with her.

"What is?"

"Their friendship. Warms your heart, you know?"

I nodded. "That it does."

Hanako and Lilly hugged for what seemed like forever.

"You want to sing, or should I?" Akira asked.

"I will."

Akira nodded and held her arms out, as if to say "Be my guest." At the karaoke machine, I scrolled through the songs, eventually landing upon the "I" titles. Not long after I arrived at the section, I found a song.

I grabbed the microphone, waiting for the short instrumental to pass. I glanced back at Hanako, who seemed to be trembling much less. My eyes returned to the screen, and as the lyrics appeared, I sang along.

_It's one o'clock and time for lunch,_

_When the sun beats down and I lie on the bench,_

_I can always hear them talk._

I sang through the rest of "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" by Genesis like a pro. At the end of the song, I received applause from my group.

"Genesis, huh?" Akira said. "Should have guessed, given your shirt. Big fan or something?" I nodded. She had already cut the cake and the three of them had eaten a piece.

"Grab a piece," she said, standing. "My turn."

I took a piece of the chocolate cake and sat next to Lilly as Akira took the mic. When she stepped away from the machine, a funky beat emerged from the speakers. She picked a song in English, which I immediately recognized when she started singing.

She was singing "Brick House," much to my surprise. Also surprising was the fact that she sang it without butchering it, despite her accent. Admittedly, her English accent sounded more... English, so butchering it wouldn't have been so easy. Her voice didn't match up that well with the song, so I found myself giggling like a schoolgirl.

When she was done, we applauded and started the cycle again. During Hanako's second song, she was calmer than before. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Akira grin.

"Any idea why she's more confident?" I asked, since she seemed to have an idea.

She picked up a beer bottle. "Put a bit of this in her drink."

I shook my head. _Crude, yet effective._ "But seriously? The Commodores?" I asked, confused at her music choice. I had thought of her as someone who would listen to NWA or something.

"What's the matter with the Commodores?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing..." I sighed. "Never mind."

"Whatever."

When Hanako finished singing, my turn started. _Nah, don't want an English song..._ I scrolled through the songs until I came upon a German song. _Perfect._

* * *

"So, how are you getting to the airport?" I asked. "Is Akira picking you up?"

After classes Saturday, Lilly had to leave for the Sendai airport. The night before ended well. Hanako ended up getting a little tipsy, thanks to Akira spiking her drinks, but Hanako had a great time. Luckily, Hanako was only buzzed enough to not be so self-aware and cautious. I shuddered at the thought of her forcing herself on me again.

"No," Lilly said in regards to my question. "I called a taxi, which should be here in five minutes."

Next to her was a medium-sized suitcase, full of luggage. I picked it up on Lilly's request and we walked to the gates. Hanako and Lilly were talking away, Hanako clearly wary about Lilly leaving. I didn't see Kenji that morning, so I assumed he literally partook in an anti-feminist black op.

When we reached the gates, there wasn't a taxi, so I set the suitcase down.

"Talk about customer service," I sarcastically remarked.

"I'll give them another ten minutes," Lilly calmly said. "They've never let me down before."

There was a short period of silence within our group, but Hanako was the one who spoke up.

"H-how long is the f-flight?" she asked.

"Well, it took me about ten to twelve hours to fly over from Pittsburgh," I said. "So... longer than that."

Lilly nodded. "About sixteen hours, give or take an hour or two." I didn't know if she was flying across the States or across Asia, but it seemed like the former.

"So long..." Hanako murmured.

I figured that once Lilly left, Hanako would be taken aback. The mere fact that she was able to converse without a lot of worry was easing my mind, but I had a gut feeling that it wouldn't last long.

"It's fine, actually," Lilly said. "I'll be either asleep or brushing up on my English while I'm on-board. I've hardly spoken English here until you arrived, Adolf."

"Oh, stop flattering me," I said. "Or insulting me. Whichever."

It wasn't long until an engine droned, echoing throughout the hills around Yamaku. Lilly's eyes opened, but Hanako was devouring her fingernails.

"And that's the yellow car," I said. Sure enough, a yellow car rounded the hill and turned around.

"How observant of you Adolf," Lilly said. "I only just noticed it."

I shrugged. "Loud engine. So, are you riding in the taxi all the way to Sendai?"

Lilly shook her head. "I'm going to take a train once I'm in the city."

"I had to ride a bus from Sendai when I first got here."

Lilly chuckled. "How uncomfortable."

"'Ey," the taxi driver called as he rolled the driver side window down. "You Lilly Satou?"

"Yes I am," Lilly said.

He popped the trunk and got out of the car. The driver loaded her luggage in the trunk and Lilly shared a quick hug with Hanako. Afterward, Lilly took a seat in the back of the cab. The driver took his seat as well. Lilly rolled her window down.

"Have a safe trip, Lilly!" Hanako called, not even stuttering. However, her voice was soaked in sadness.

"Lilly, have fun, and give your aunt my best wishes," I said.

"Of course," the departing girl said. "Hanako, I'll be back before long, so don't worry. Besides, Adolf's here for you, right Adolf?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Despite her drunken advance on me, I clasped my hand to her shoulder, smiling. My attempt to reassure her seemingly failed, since her cheeks reddened and she hung her head. Not long after, we gave Lilly our final goodbyes and the taxi headed down the hill.

Hanako and I stood in silence, watching the taxi cab roll down the steep hill. For several minutes, not a word was said.

"W-what do you want to do?" Hanako asked.

I scratched my head. "We've got exams coming up, so I was thinking of studying. Plus, I'm missing track practice right now."

Hanako sighed in what seemed to be relief. "Oh, okay." She swiped a strand of hair away on the unscarred portion of her face. "I've got h-homework, too."

_Well, I said exams, but... _"Okay, then. You should get caught up on that."

Hanako smiled. "I-I will. See... see you later, Adolf."

I raised my hand in farewell as I sat on the bench outside the gate. She power-walked to the dorms.

_She's gonna be a wreck,_ I thought. _Lilly's not here for support, and I can't replace Lilly._ Sighing, my body became erect. I walked back to the dorms, deciding that it was as good of a time as any to get dressed for track.

* * *

**AN: Well, the birthday has come and gone. Well, the party, that is. I really don't like how I wrote this chapter, but that's just me. My good friend, who reviews some chapters before they get uploaded, said it was fine. I trust his judgment.**

**Originally, Adolf was to walk in on Hisao and Emi dry humping on the first day, when the gifts were given. I took that out because of how awkward it would be and how annoying it'd be to keep bringing up. Also, Adolf and Hanako originally kissed when she pulled him on top of her, meaning her drunken attempt worked. However, I didn't like the scene. So, it went poof. Adolf was originally supposed to sing Genesis' "Follow You, Follow Me," but it was too love song-y for the setting. Lastly, Akira originally was to sing NWA's "Fuck the Police," but after some questions on a certain regular 4chan thread (not on /vg/, but on /b/) and some to my good friend, I decided against it. Well, that, and the fact that "Brick House" started playing on Pandora. I'm debating on whether or not I should continue mentioning what I originally had planned, so some feedback would be appreciated.**

**I'm also sorry if the karaoke part wasn't up to your expectations. I admit, it could have been better, but I've run into some walls with writer's block.**

**Again, any questions you have, please put it into a review. Same goes for suggestions or critiques. If you're a guest, your question will be answered in the next chapter's AN.**

**I anticipate to be done with act two by chapter twenty at the earliest. Once act two is done, I might write some chapters for my Call of Duty fanfiction, Glitch in the System, or I might continue at the pace I'm going with ADD. Likely the latter, at least until I hit writer's block again.**


	18. Favors

Chapter Eighteen: Favors

_A young teen boy and his older sister were sitting in the latter's car._

"_Hey, mein Führer, where do you want to go?" the sister asked._

"_Aw, come on, Em. Don't call me that," said the boy._

"_Haha, okay. But seriously, I got my license, bro. Wanna go somewhere?"_

"_I dunno."_

"_Gamestop? The Icemine?"_

_The boy shrugged. "I dunno."_

_His sister frowned and smacked him on the arm. "Make up your mind, dammit!" She was smiling, merely hitting her brother in jest._

_The brother sighed. "Ich weiß nicht, Schwester." (I don't know, sister.)_

"_Ne nachinayut govorit' po-nemetski seychas," the sister replied. (Don't start speaking German now.)_

_The boy thought, then grinned as an idea came to him. "Why don't we visit Oma and Opa?"_

"_Really? To speak more of the Fathertongue?" Her brother nodded. "Alrighty then, kiddo. Your call."_

_The girl started the car and pulled out of the driveway of their home_.

I shot up, sweating. Immediately, the back of my hand flew up to my forehead, wiping away the sweat.

Even the memories from before the accident of my sister made me wake up at night. Admittedly, it was the first time in over a month and a half since I'd had such a dream, so I couldn't be sure if it was a fluke or not. In the hospital, there were several instances of that happening.

My sister and I were both trilingual, causing some envy amongst our friends. Thus, we both spoke in English, German, and Russian regularly. I cracked an involuntary grin as memories of me answering questions in class came to mind. Every so often, I'd start speaking German or Russian, completely confusing everyone. Emily did the same, but not nearly as often.

I shook my head as I thought of my sister and glanced at the clock. It read **3:26 A.M.**

_I should try to sleep,_ I thought. _Got a couple tests today..._

The bad thing was, sleep wasn't an option. My brain was completely rejuvenated from the short sleep that had taken me. It wasn't uncommon for me to get less than eight to nine hours of sleep, but I had gotten more sleep at Yamaku than I did back home, so I relished sleep.

It was July 4th, so I got out of bed wishing there was an American flag in my room. Fourth of July celebrations weren't my cup of tea, but I was patriotic to an extent.

"Then do the next best thing," I said under my breath as I flipped open my laptop.

Once the computer booted up and the internet browser was opened, I searched for a specific image. Once that image was on my screen, I stood back, my right hand over my heart, and said the Pledge of Allegiance. It was so habitual to say the Pledge for me, I actually prepared to say it during homeroom a couple times.

Once I was done muttering the Pledge, I closed the window with the American flag on it and shut down the laptop. Since sleep decided to evade me, the shower was my destination. Well, the bathroom was in general.

The warm water from the shower reaffirmed my inability to fall asleep, feeling relaxing as it slid down my back. The relaxing effect the water had let me reflect on the days since Lilly went to Scotland.

Hanako and Hisao both asked me for help with English. Hisao mentioned on our first day that he sucked at English. He scored a forty-three on the English test the day before Lilly left for Scotland. I didn't know what Hanako got, and Emi did worse than her boyfriend, a thirty-two. Emi didn't ask for help, ans since I hadn't seen her since the Wednesday before, Hisao was the one who told me how bad she did.

Lilly and I both got one hundreds on the English test, unsurprising for native English-speakers. That being said, Hanako probably relied on Lilly for help before, but she didn't ask for much help from me. It was surprising, considering Lilly's blindness and inability to help her read my native language.

_Then again, Hanako likely learned how to read beforehand,_ I thought as the wash cloth went up and down my legs. _The only thing she'd need Lilly's help with is vocabulary or something related to the words... Unless Lilly read along in Braille and helped pronounce words Hanako spelled..._

My head involuntarily shook. I was unsure of what I was getting at. Sleep certainly seemed necessary right about then, but it would be a waste of time to try. There were other things to do, other than lying on a bed with absolutely nothing to do.

_That's a Shizune way of thinking, Adolf, ol' buddy ol' pal._

Not wanting to end up a dictator like Shizune, I finished up my shower and brushed my teeth. Walking back to my room, a beam of light from Kenji's door caught my eye. He had returned on Monday, doing whatever anti-feminist op he had planned.

As I entered my room, prayers were sent to every god in existence that Kenji didn't open his door. It didn't, and once my door shut, I walked to the desk and slumped. Fishing around in my bag, my hand produced the Japanese book. It was something to do for the hours until class started.

Four hours and an expanded Japanese lexicon later, I stretched, my stomach growling. Swearing under my breath, my fridge door flew open. Unsurprisingly, my food supply had run dry. Not shopping for food for a month was a bad idea, so I decided to shop after class.

My stomach screamed to be fed, so the cafeteria is where my legs carried me. After I grabbed a quick breakfast, I headed to homeroom, the day as normal as any other.

The class wasn't empty, unsurprising given my hardly punctual arrival. Hanako had actually been arriving to class much more after the festival, something I didn't notice until Hisao pointed it out Monday morning. There were doubts in my mind that she would keep up the punctuality due to Lilly's absence, but she kept it up.

She shyly waved to me as I walked to my desk, a wave that was returned without the shyness. Suzu had her legs stretched out in an attempt to trip me, something she succeeded at Monday and Tuesday. She failed when my leg raised over hers, causing Miki to smack the narcoleptic on the arm slightly.

"Owe me five hundred yen now," she said.

My head shook as I neared my seat. _Again with the betting,_ I thought. The bell rang once my desk became occupied, the only truant being the teacher himself.

Mutou wasn't that late, however. Only five minutes were cut off of his lecturing time, which he compensated for. Stoichiometry, one of my favorite parts of chemistry, was his topic for the science lesson.

Morning classes dragged on, and soon it was time for English. After a test, some group work was given. Whenever English work was given out, people started to clamor over me, even people I hadn't talked to in the class. Originally, I worked with Hisao and the Student Council, but then I started working with Miki and Suzu, just like any other time there was group work.

Hanako started to join our group more often. While I was astonished, I was also glad. She seemed to be breaking out of her shell. My joy for her overcoming her social anxiety wasn't even dampened by the memory of her coming onto me.

The English work was pretty easy for me, something the teacher knew. They'd actually planned on getting me AP English work from a west coast US city, but they never did.

Suzu was the only person in the group who wasn't too great with English. Miki was better than Hanako, somehow, and Suzu brought up the rear. Though she seemed to hate it, Suzu was constantly asking me questions. She didn't ask me to help with exams like Hanako and Hisao, though. Miki seemed to do that.

Our group was the first done, my involvement consistently seen as unfair. Some people insisted I work alone, but their proposals were shot down. I did have issues in Japanese class, so I thought it was a fair trade-off.

"D-do you m-mind if I... eat lunch w-with you?" Hanako asked as lunch neared.

"Hanako, you don't need to keep asking," Miki said. "It's fine if you eat with us."

She also started eating lunch with us. Since she couldn't eat with Lilly until she returned, Hanako forced herself to go onto the roof and eat lunch with us Monday, shocking both of us. Suzu was sleeping at the time, having passed out while eating some soup.

"Yeah," I said. "Eat with us as much as you like, when you like."

"Just don't eat us," Suzu added.

Miki sighed in mock exasperation. When the bell rang, we all stood to leave, but a certain pair of familiar hands covered my face once more.

"Guess who?" Misha asked.

"Misha, when you say that, I know it's you."

She removed her hands and was pouting when I spun to face her. "You're no fun, Adolf-chan."

"Nor are you sneaky," I retorted in jest.

The pink-drilled girl's mouth was agape. "Oh really?" She played with one of her drills. "I'll get you good Adolf-chan. I'll get you."

She walked away with Shizune. The president gave me an uncharacteristic wave, one I awkwardly returned. _What's with her?_ I wondered.

"Hitler!" Suzu called. "What the hell, man?"

"Don't call me Hitler!" My body spun around.

"See," Suzu said, turning back to Hanako. "Told you he'd get mad."

Hanako giggled slightly, confusing me. "Whatever, let's go," I said as I walked out of the classroom.

* * *

"Riese, do you have a minute?"

Mutou had stopped me at the end of the school day.

"Uh, sure," I said as my bag was placed on an empty desk. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing," he said, a slight chuckle escaping his mouth. "Well, actually, _something_, but it's not something bad."

"Continue."

"It's about Ikezawa."

"What about her?" I started wondering if it _was_ bad.

"Well," he said, leaning back in his chair. "I've noticed how much the two of you hang around each other. Not as much as you and Miura do, though."

"Is that a good thing?"

"That you two are friends? Yes, very much so. Her attendance and her grades have both improved greatly."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "So I've been told."

"Not to mention the fact that she seems to be making more friends, such as Suzuki and Miura."

I simply nodded, unable to formulate a proper response.

Mutou glanced at his watch. "Well, that's all I really wanted to talk about. You must have something planned, since it is your Independence Day, correct?"

_Independence Day..._ I nodded. "Indeed I do." I was lying, since I hadn't thought of doing anything for the Fourth.

Mutou nodded. "Then don't let me hold you."

I nodded and got up to leave, but Mutou stopped me once more.

"And Riese?"

I spun around, half in, half out of the door. "Yeah?"

"Keep up the good work."

My head bounced up and down slightly as the door shut behind me. What was I going to do? I did have to go shopping for food, so that was one thing to do. The hallways were fairly empty, everyone having since left, so I jogged down the hall.

The grounds had many more students lingering around than the halls, so my jog was reduced to a power walk. It was a brisk one, so I made it to my room in no time. My bag was left in the room, but Kenji wasn't left in his.

"Where you going, man?" he asked when I left my room.

"Dammit Kenji," I muttered. "To get food, why?"

"Did you run out of supplies?"

I sighed. "I wouldn't be going to get food otherwise, now would I?"

Kenji seemed genuinely surprised. "Didn't think of that."

My head shook. "Whatever, Kenji. I'll see you around."

He nodded and slipped into his room as I walked down the stairs.

_I don't think I'll be able to do anything for the Fourth,_ I thought. I walked for a while, still pondering what I could do. _Screw it, I said the Pledge. There's not much else I can do, so I'll make up for it next year._

The plan was agreeable, so I began the trek down to the small town.

* * *

"Riese?"

"What?"

Mutou had called on me in class. My head was on my arm, so he likely thought I wasn't paying attention. I really couldn't since class was winding to an end.

"Calcium hydride and free nitrogen gas are produced when ammonia passes over hot calcium. If thirty liters of nitrogen is recovered from the reaction, what mass of calcium was used?"

He was still lecturing stoichiometry. The question was from a worksheet he passed out, which was actually a basic chemistry worksheet.

"Approximately one hundred sixty-one point zero three grams of calcium were used."

Mutou nodded. "Correct."

He went on to explain some more stoichiometry, but it was pointless. It was Saturday, so not many people were paying attention. Soon enough, the highly anticipated bell rang, and everyone ran out of the class.

I was getting up to leave when Hanako stopped me.

"What's up Hanako?" I asked when she flagged me down.

She produced a small piece of paper. "I-I was wondering... if you c-could pick me up a c-couple things from the store."

I nodded. "Sure, I can do that."

She handed me the paper, which listed two eggs, a loaf of bread, whole grain cereal, and thyme.

"Err... Do you want only two eggs or two dozen eggs?" I asked.

"Um..." she rested her finger on her chin, thinking. "J-just get a dozen eggs."

"Okay, and the brand of cereal doesn't matter?" She shook her head. "Alright. So... wait, why can't you go with me?"

"I'm... studying..."

_Right... Mutou said she was improving her grades, but it's Saturday..._

I decided to not persuade her to go with me in the end. She hurried off to study, for whatever reason. I swung by the dorms and dropped off my stuff, gearing up to head to Aura-Mart for the second time in a week. There were a couple things I forgot, so it was actually convenient that Hanako wanted me to get her some things as well.

Whenever I reached the gates, several people were crowded around, ready to get on the city bus. Some students seemed familiar, but that was none of my concern as I began the trek to the town.

A couple of students were walking down the hill as well. I didn't recognize any of them, however. There were a couple girls and a couple guys, each talking amongst themselves. Silence was fairly typical for me on the hill, so their chatter wasn't bothersome. It was a nice change, though I didn't get involved.

A couple of the students, who seemed like juniors, noticed me halfway down the hill. One of them, a girl, approached me.

"Hi there!" she said.

"Hi," I replied. "Why are you talking to me?"

She shrugged. "You seemed kind of lonely. Thought you'd like someone to talk to."

"I certainly hope you mean exactly that."

"What do you mean?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"You don't plan on asking me questions?"

"Well, kind of. That's part of conversation, right?"

"I guess." I extended my hand. She took my hand warily and shook. "Name's Riese. Adolf Riese."

She gasped. "The American?!"

I frowned and hung my head. "I thought you'd say that."

"Oh, nononono! I don't mean it that way! It's not bad at all!"

I was confused, since I didn't take it like that. "What?"

"It's just, a lot of juniors talk about you. Some of the girls think you're really cute and-"

"Calm down. Sheesh." She was talking really fast. "Who are you, anyway?"

She reddened and awkwardly held her hand out. "I'm Iwasaki. Aoi Iwasaki."

I took her hand and shook. "Well, pleased to meet you Iwasaki. Now, can you not get all giddy, now that you know who I am?"

She took a deep breath. "Well... I knew you were different, since you don't look Japanese, but we get some foreigners, so I couldn't tell who you were."

"Well, now you know." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Don't tell me there are girls obsessed with me."

"A couple..."

I had no problem with girls liking me, but I didn't want a cult following.

I groaned. "Don't say that you're one of them."

She shook her head violently. "No! No, I'm not."

For some reason, I felt like messing with her, so I cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Sure seems like it."

"No! No, really, I'm not! I swear!"

I laughed. "Calm down, I'm just messing with you."

She flushed red again. "Oh... okay..."

"So, you're a second-year?"

She nodded. "Yep." She brushed some hair out of her face. "You're on the track team, right?"

"Yeah. I guess it was obvious?"

She tilted her head. "Sort of. I have a couple friends on the team, and they said you kicked butt at the last meet. They also said that you took the second spot on the relay at your first practice."

"Well, don't start flattering me, but yeah. I did."

"That's so cool!"

"Er... thanks, I guess." I wasn't sure where she was going with this conversation.

"Hey, can yo-"

"Aoi!" one of her friends interrupted. She spun to them. "Are you coming to the park or what?"

We'd already made it into the town.

"Uh... Yeah!" Iwasaki turned back to me. "I'll talk to you some other time! Bye!"

I held my hand up in farewell as Iwasaki ran off to meet her friends. It was strange that she randomly started talking to me, but it was also a nice gesture. She certainly seemed like a nice girl, but I really hoped she was pulling my leg about the fangirling among the juniors. That was unsettling.

Soon enough, Aura-Mart came into view. My hand slipped into my pocket to grab Hanako's list. I walked into the convenience store and set off for the bakery. First on my list (or Hanako's, for that matter), was bread. Actually, eggs were, but the bread seemed to be more convenient to get first.

After the bread was obtained, I swooped through the aisles, searching for the rest of Hanako's desired items. The only one giving me problems was the thyme.

"What the hell does she need thyme for, anyway?"I asked myself.

The basket in my hand held the other three items, but the thyme was Waldo. _Where is it?_ I furiously thought.

"Hey, guess who it is!" a female voice called, one I knew quite well.

"What brings you here Miki?" I asked without breaking from my hunt.

"Same as you. Getting food."

My head spun to look at my tanned friend. A certain blue haired individual was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Suzu?" I asked.

"Where do you think?"

"Either sleeping or finding new ways to insult me." My legs folded into a crouch. "Hey, you know where the thyme is?"

"Thyme?" Miki asked, confused. "Never took you as the cooking type."

I shook my head. "I'm not. Hanako asked me to pick her up a few things, thyme being one."

For a brief second, I thought a genuine frown crossed Miki's lips. If it wasn't a figment of my imagination, it disappeared all too quickly.

"Follow me," she said, walking off.

My legs unfolded and I followed her. Miki had a basket in her right hand, giving me the impression that she just smacked items into her basket with her stump. The thought was darkly amusing, to a slight extent.

She led me two aisles over, and half an aisle down. "Here," she said, pointing at some thyme bottles with her stump. She was grinning as she did it.

"Thanks," I said as I grabbed the bottle of thyme. "I appreciate it. Now for my stuff..."

"Mind if I follow?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Why should I?"

"I take that as a yes, then." She grinned and playfully hit me with her stump. "Good, because I would have done it anyway."

A small smile spread across my face. "I kinda figured you would."

We walked up and down the aisles together. My basket held Hanako's four items and five of mine, but Miki had a full basket. She kept getting me to put stuff into her basket, whistling the whole time.

"You think this is funny?" I asked.

"Oh no," she replied with mock shock. "I think it's quite gentlemanly of you, helping out a lady."

"I told you once, you're not exactly a lady." That comment earned me a swift smack on the back of the head.

Miki grinned regardless. "And you should know I'll keep hitting you."

My head bobbed. "I _should_ know that by now."

A few playful comments (and smacks) and two aisles later, we were in the checkout line. Hanako's items were fairly cheap, so I didn't plan on bothering her for money back. If she handed the money to me, however, that was a different story.

Once our items were paid for, Miki and I left the little store and began the walk back up the hill. She had four bags worth of items, two of which I was holding.

"So, tell me," my companion said. "Why did Hanako have you pick up some stuff?"

_Wonder why she cares..._ I made an exaggerated gasp. "Oh my god! Miki! Are you jealous?"

She hit me it the side once more and laughed, but it wasn't like her usual laugh. She didn't respond to my joke with anything besides the laugh, either. Silence loomed for a large part of the walk.

"Well, to answer your question," I said, the uncharacteristic silence pissing me off. "Hanako said she was studying, so she asked me to pick up a couple things for her."

"Why's that?"

I shrugged. "She normally shops with Lilly on Mondays or Fridays, I forget which... Mondays. Anyway, like I said. Normally she shops with Lilly, and Lilly's in Scotland, so..."

"She can't shop?" Miki asked. "I can understand her not doing it alone, but why have you do it? I mean, today's Saturday, there's no reason to study. Hell, I never study."

"Neither do I, nor do I know." The bags were getting swung back and forth. "So, are you sure you don't want any help in English?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I handle myself pretty well. Not as good as you, but almost as good."

"Well, I was born in an English-speaking nation, so that's expected."

"Ja, it must be."

_Did she just...? _"Do you speak German?"

She shook her head, grinning. "No, I was just mimicking you."

"Well, that's insulting," I joked.

She lightly pushed me with her forearm. "I could be like Suzu right now."

A chuckle escaped my mouth. "Please, don't."

"Don't worry, I won't." She was grinning, not exactly putting me at ease.

"Er... Right. I won't worry." I rubbed my ear with my shoulder. "So, ready for track tomorrow?"

My companion stopped in her tracks. "What?"

"Track. We have a meet tomorrow, right?"

She shook her head and turned around to start walking again. "Don't you remember what Hideo said at the last practice?"

"He made an announcement?"

Miki turned to me, nodding as if it were obvious.

"Well, crap. I wasn't paying attention. What did he say?"

"The meet was canceled. The other team couldn't make it."

That was legitimate news to me. "So... Tomorrow's free?"

Miki spun once more, nodding the whole time. "Yep!" She had her trademark grin plastered on her face.

"I assume you have plans of some sort, right?"

"You don't?"

_Like I'm supposed to. _"No, I don't."

She laughed. "Why am I not surprised?"

"If you were Suzu, you'd think I had some sort of perverse plan."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I would."

By then, we had reached the school gates. Another group of students were waiting for the bus, so we had to push through the crowd. Not much resistance was met on the other side, so Miki and I were able to quickly maneuver to the dorms.

When we got to the second floor of the girls' dorm, I told Miki that I'd drop her bags off after Hanako got her requested items.

"Alright, just don't steal my crap," she said as she walked off to her room.

Hanako's door was in front of me in no time. My knuckles rapped on the door a couple times and I heard something thump on the floor. A couple seconds passed before the door opened a bit.

"Here you go," I said, raising the bag. "Everything you wanted."

The door opened just enough for me to see her face and for her to grab the bag. She snatched the bag away and quickly shut the door, muttering a 'thank you' in the process.

_That was strange,_ I thought. _Well, she did say she had to study quite a bit, so..._

I stuck with that, since it seemed logical. Miki's room didn't take long to get to, but I found Miki outside of her room, her door closed.

"You've gotta be kidding me," I said.

"What?"

"You can't even open your door?"

"Oh, I can open it. Just not with these bags."

"Alright, fine. Is your door unlocked?"

She nodded, so I sighed and opened the door, all three bags in one hand. The door swung open, revealing a blue-haired individual.

"Oh," Suzu said. "It's you."

"Good afternoon to you too, Suzu," I replied. "Um, why are you here?"

"Fell asleep." I glanced at Miki and she shrugged. "Why are _you_ here?"

"He was helping me get some food," Miki said.

Suzu rolled her eyes. "Uh huh, sure," she said, disinterested.

To prove a point, Miki and I raised our bags to Suzu's face. For emphasis, we shook the bags, the rustling of the plastic proving to be quite loud.

"Fine, I guess you did," Suzu said, yawning. She looked over the bags. "You got any ice cream?"

Miki cracked a grin. "You and ice cream, I swear. Yeah, I have some, but you can't have any."

Suzu's eyes grew really wide. "What do you mean?"

"You want some?" Suzu nodded vigorously. "Then move."

Suzu sidestepped immediately. Miki strolled into her room and set her bags down, motioning for me to give her the rest of her bags.

"Here you go," I said as I handed over her remaining bags.

"Thanks." She set the bags down and I turned to leave.

"Alright, well, I'll see you guys later."

"Hey!" Miki stopped me. My head turned to face her. "Want to watch some more movies tomorrow?"

Suzu's palm met her face. "Do you _have _to invite him?"

Ignoring Suzu, my head bobbed. "Sure."

Miki grinned. "Great! Come around noon, or I'll kick your ass."

As I walked out the door, my hands were raised in mock terror. "I'll be sure to not piss you off."

"You better," she said seriously. "See you around."

I nodded and left the room, unsure of what to do for the rest of the day._  
_

_Well, you do have your Xbox..._

My head tilted up and down as I concluded on what I was going to do: sit back and relax.

* * *

**AN: Writer's block strikes again.**

**The "Icemine" referred to in the flashback is an ice rink. Aoi isn't going to be a love interest, so don't get your jimmies in a rustle.**

**I'm not going to give any details of changes I made, since I plan on using a couple in later chapters. Also, the next couple of chapters may or may not be uploaded this week. I want to end Act Two at chapter twenty, after which I will take a short reprieve from writing this story. I may start on another (likely a crossover) or continue my Call of Duty story.**

**Since I haven't received any guest reviews since chapter fourteen, there isn't going to be a guest review section. Regardless, the same as before goes. Reviews, follows, suggestions whatever... All accepted. If you don't want to drop a review to suggest something, you can PM me.**

**Also, chapter name sucks. It's simple and accurate, though. I apologize for how dialogue heavy it is, as well. **


	19. Return to Normalcy

Chapter Nineteen: Return to Normalcy

"Dudes, these are some pretty good noodles."

"No idea why you got noodles."

Kenji and Hisao were bickering anout noodles. Kenji seemed a little different after his anti-feminist op, since he was actually talking to us about things other than conspiracies. As for why he had noodles, we were eating lunch together.

Hanako had been absent Monday and Tuesday. I had forgotten that her birthday was Tuesday, but Misha and Shizune reminded me of it at lunch Monday. Apparently, Hanako did that since her first year, being absent on the days surrounding her birthday. Mutou had me give her homework, though, so I dropped by on both days. Nothing was said between us.

Miki and Suzu were doing some studying during lunches, so they asked me to not interrupt. It seemed as though I was quite distracting, though oftentimes I was the one being distracted. Because of that, Shizune and Misha treated me to lunch Monday and Tuesday.

Lunch with the two wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Compared to the other times we had lunch, it was much more pleasant, even though the Student Council had me get their lunches. However, Wednesdays seemed to be off-limits in terms of eating with the two, so that left me with my hallmates.

Hisao said that Emi started to really cram for her exams. It turned out that Emi was stuck in a wheelchair because of an infection she contracted, likely due to her stubbornness. Kenji was the most surprising, meeting us in the hall on the way to lunch. He wanted to know what we were up to and subsequently joined us for lunch.

"I got noodles because I felt like it," Kenji retorted to Hisao.

"Sure you did," Hisao replied, bread crumbs falling from his mouth.

"Hisao, it's hardly your decision on what Kenji eats," I said.

"Thank you!" Kenji exclaimed with some finality.

The two continued to bicker and my eyes danced around. We were the only three at our end of the table. Some students were at the other end of the table, talking amongst themselves.

"Alright, enough of this," Kenji said, his fist slamming into the table.

"Okay, so enough of it," I said, barely paying attention as the pizza rose to my mouth.

"Yeah. So listen. I'm pretty big in the competitive bowling scene, you know?"

"Now we do," Hisao said as he chomped on more bread.

"Well, some dudes didn't know that either, yesterday," Kenji said.

"That's great and all Kenji, but what's your point?" I asked.

"They lost a bet with me. Mind you, it was a pretty damn big bet."

"So, no more money from either of us, then?" Hisao asked.

Kenji shook his head. "No more from either of you. Though, I should get more from you, Hisao."

"What? Why?" Hisao was pretty confused, and I had a bad feeling about what Kenji was getting at.

"Bro, you barely aid the war effort."

My hand and my face had a quick introduction. "Here we go..."

"Is that what you're going to use that money for?" Hisao asked.

"Damn right."

"Care to elaborate on what you're buying?"

_What the hell, Hisao? Why are you egging him on?_

"Non-perishable canned food. Building materials, mostly – iron and wood panels. First aid kit. Camping heater. Portable radio. Sleeping bag. Flashlight. Mechanical clock."

I wasn't giving the list much thought, my food being of more importance. Hisao went and triggered Kenji's anti-feminist side, so he was going to have to deal with it.

"Isn't that stuff for a fallout shelter?" Hisao asked.

My pizza nearly choked me. "Are you serious Kenji?" I asked.

"Well, it's a non-zero possibility," he said, playing with his noodles.

"I'm pretty sure there's zero possibility of that ever happening," Hisao said with a very stern expression.

Kenji cocked an eyebrow. "Nah, man, I've seen some shit. Adolf, remember that op I told you about?" I nodded. "Well, intel I gathered from that almost ascertains that the feminists can gain the launch codes for not only Japan's nuclear arsenal, but the United States' and the United Kingdom's arsenals."

_Wonder why he's dragging the States and the UK into this..._ "What about Russia?" I asked.

"Nothing was mentioned about Russia."

"Whatever," Hisao said, placing his hands firmly on the table. "You said it _almost _ascertains that they can do that. Even then, it's not even confirmed that they will. Besides, you can't even build a shelter on campus."

Kenji shrugged as he took a drink of soda. "It's my summer holiday project while I'm at home. My dad said I can do it."

"Really?" Hisao and I said at the same time.

_His dad might be just as crazy,_ I thought.

"Yeah. He thought it'll improve my handyman skills, or something of the sort." Kenji seemed to ponder this question for a second before shrugging. "Anyway, either of you want to help build it? If you guys help, it'd be a badass bunker. Adolf, I'm pretty sure some of that American handiness would go a long way in keeping the radiation out."

That conversation went on for several minutes, Kenji explaining his plans to the two of us. Hisao was visibly impressed, while I actually wasn't surprised. He was already planning on building a fallout shelter, so more research only seemed logical.

The bell rang in the middle of one of Kenji's explanations, giving Hisao and myself some room to breathe as Kenji got up.

"Well, I got to get back to my room," he said.

"You're that eager to go back to class?" Hisao asked.

Kenji shook his head. "No, _my_ room. I already came for half a day, that's good enough." He walked off, giving us a small farewell wave.

"That was... interesting," Hisao said.

I nodded. "It's nice to actually be able to talk with him, though. About normal things."

"That was normal?"

"It was, until you made him go off on a tangent."

"I guess you're right." Hisao stood, finishing his drink in the process. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

I followed Hisao's lead and we disposed of our garbage. The walk back to class 3-3 was full of smalltalk, mainly about the upcoming exams. They were still mandatory for me, for some reason. Whether or not they had an actual impact on me getting into a university was unknown to me.

When we reached the class, Hisao was first the first to go in. Everyone was in class already, including the elusive Hanako. It was probably best for me to not start conversation, since class was about to start, so I just walked to my seat with Hisao.

* * *

"So, she just walked in during lunch?"

"Yeah. Just strolled on in and took her seat."

I had stopped by Miki's room after class. She was studying with Suzu during lunch, so she likely had some idea of when Hanako showed up, which she did.

"You're awfully concerned about her," Miki said as she sat on her bed. "It's as if you're her boyfriend or something."

My head shook as I sat on the floor. "We're just good friends. And as her friend, I want to look out for her. If I didn't, what kind of friend would I be?"

"Point taken."

I thought for a minute. "You didn't seem that surprised that she didn't show up, now that I think about it."

She nodded. "Because she did it before."

"That's what Shizune and Misha said. Well, Shizune didn't say it, but..."

"I know what you mean."

My throat was a little dry, so I asked if I could have something to drink. Miki pointed towards her mini-fridge, which had some normal soda as well as the weird Japanese soda. Naturally, I grabbed normal soda and sat back down.

"So, how are your studies going?" I asked as I popped the top of the can.

"Math's boring as all hell," she replied, lying down on her bed. "Suzu's no help with that for sure. English is just fine, but I have to help Suzu with that." She yawned. "Science isn't too bad and history can kiss my ass."

A laugh escaped me and Miki sat up. "What's so funny?"

"You."

She furrowed her brow at me. "I'm being serious."

"I know. It's just the way you spoke about history."

"Oh shut up." She threw a pillow at me. "You know you don't like history that much either."

The pillow got launched back towards her. "Not really."

For a few minutes, neither of us said anything, nor did either of us move. It didn't feel awkward, just the two of us in her room, but Miki didn't seem as energetic as usual. The most likely cause was how much she had been studying with Suzu.

"Studying got you that burned out?" I asked.

She nodded with a sigh. "You have no idea."

"Well, exams aren't for a couple weeks yet, so you can relax."

"I guess you have a point."

Miki started to tunelessly whistle, neither of us talking. Eventually, I just lied on her floor, unsure of what to do. Summer break didn't start on July 21st, unlike other Japanese schools, something Google helped me find out. The heat, while not as intense as the heat back home, still had an energy-draining effect on me.

As I lied on the floor, my hand found its way into my bag, which was neatly propped up next to me. After fishing around aimlessly for a few seconds, a piece of paper came into contact with my fingers. Intrigued, my fingers grasped the paper and pulled it out.

"What's this?" I asked myself in English as I looked it over. Some Japanese characters were on the paper, as well as a series of numbers, Japanese characters next to them. It was all in pink ink.

"What's what?" Miki asked, not moving an inch. That was a simple bit of English, so her understanding what I said wasn't surprising.

My tired brain eventually managed to decipher some of the Japanese characters: 'Satou' and 'home.'

"Why do I have Lilly's phone number?" I mumbled. Slowly, memories of lunch with the Student Council came back to me.

Two days before, Shizune and Misha were signing back and forth, paying me no mind as I stuffed myself. Eventually, Misha interrupted my eating and asked me if I was going to accompany Lilly back to the school.

I asked her if she was asking or if Shizune was. Misha said it was the both of them, but she didn't sign that to Shizune. I said I would, but Lilly never gave me her number, cell or home. When we got back to class, Misha wrote Lilly's home phone number on a piece of paper and slid it into my bag. When asked why she was giving me the number, as well as how she knew it, Misha just shrugged.

"Oh my god, Adolf," Miki said in Japanese, rolling onto her side. Her tone was a mocking one. "You have Lilly's phone number. That doesn't look good on your part." Again, what I said in English was fairly basic, so no heed was paid to the fact she understood.

"I know, but it's only to know when she's coming back."

"And how are you going to know if you never called?" She propped her head up with her hand, looking very alluring while doing so. "Hmm?"

Sitting up, my shoulders rolled in a shrug. "Can I use your phone?"

"For an international call?" She rolled back onto her back. "Forget it. My bill will skyrocket. Try one of the dorm phones."

"Maybe I'll do that tomorrow."

"Hey, why don't you use your cell?"

_Don't have it._ "I forgot it back home," I said, scratching my head. "Not like it would have matter if I had brought it. It probably wouldn't work here."

Miki sat up, brushing hair out of her face. "Really? Just how ill-prepared were you when you came to Japan?"

"Very." My eyes darted to the alarm clock near Miki's bed. It read **5:06 P.M.** "Maybe I'll explain some other time."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"Look at the time," I said as I rose to my feet. "While I've been in here longer than this, Suzu was here then. Don't want people getting the wrong idea."

Miki chuckled as I grabbed my bag. "You think people will get the wrong idea?"

"I apparently have a fanclub or something amongst the juniors, so I wouldn't doubt it. Misha is my other prime example."

Miki burst out laughing. "A fanclub?"

While her sides were entering orbit, I walked to her bed and my arms reached above her head, my fingers latching hold of a pillow. Raising the pillow above my head, it forcefully came down on her face, an audible thump being produced.

"Now you're being an ass," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow that she made no attempt to move since she was still laughing.

"I'll talk to you later Miki," I said as the door out opened. "If you need any help with something, just let me know."

She took the pillow off of her face and grinned. "Alright, fine. See you around asshole."

"You're so nice Miki."

She raised the pillow with her hand as the door shut. The pillow audibly thumped off of the door.

"Dammit!" Miki said, audible through the door.

Chuckling, I headed back to my room to eat and write an overdue email to my uncle.

* * *

Another week flew by. Numerous tests were given out in all of my classes, the most difficult being Japanese. Despite being able to converse in Japanese very well, almost fluently, I couldn't read or write all that well. I had learned a decent amount of hiragana and katakana, but romaji was my primary learning tool for Japanese.

After my afternoon English tutoring sessions with Hisao and Hanako, who got along fairly well, the rest of my days were spent buckling down and memorizing hiragana and katakana. It was difficult at first, but it became fairly easy as I spent more time with it. In order to do it effectively, my curtains were drawn, the door was locked, the TV was off, pretty much every distracting thing was eliminated.

Thanks to Sakura, the two Japanese 'alphabets' were already etched into my mind first, as were the sounds they made. Knowing the Cyrillic alphabet helped with that a bit, since I used some similar tricks to remember the sounds the Japanese characters made.

What I spent a lot of time doing was memorizing vocabulary in both character sets. In conversation and writing, context is important, as with any language. However, Japanese has numerous homophones, so context is _**extremely**_ important, something I learned the hard way during my lessons with Sakura.

In order to test myself, I would go on the internet before sleeping and find a Japanese news article. After I translated it on paper, the text would be copied and pasted into a translator to see how close my translation was, though translators weren't the best thing to use. As the week went on, however, my translations got better and better.

There was a small track meet Sunday, just a competition amongst the track team. It's not hard to guess who did well, Emi excluded. She watched from the sidelines, her wheelchair confining her as she chatted with her boyfriend, the Master of Romance, Hisao. The nickname stuck after I called him it when talking to Misha.

By the time the eighteenth rolled around, my Japanese reading and writing skills were better than before. Nowhere near perfect, but nowhere near illiterate. When the test from Tuesday came back, I got an eighty, much to my delight. Normally, an eighty wouldn't be delightful, but it was when it came to Japanese.

Class was over, and while studying more katakana and hiragana should have been on top of my list, they weren't. The sheer amount of studying had burned me out, so I heeded my own advice to Miki and started taking a long break, lying on my bed the whole time.

Time passed by in a painstakingly slow manner, and by the time six o'clock came, my legs were itching to move. Lilly's home phone number was on my desk, my studying preventing a call to her, so I snatched the paper up and headed to the common room. There were a few guys watching TV.

"Hey, Adolf, what's up?" a voice called from the couch. The boy's neck was craned back and he had a yellow hairband in his brown hair.

"Oh, hey Haruhiko," I said. We'd ended up talking more at track meets. "Not much going on. Just looking for the phone."

He nodded, jabbing his finger down the hall. "Over there."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The phone was a fairly new wall model, the plastic cool in my hand. After positioning the phone between my ear and my shoulder, the fingers of my left hand held the piece of paper, while the fingers of the right danced around on the keypad, inputting Lilly's phone number. Misha even wrote the international extension for Scotland on the paper, thankfully.

I slipped the small piece of paper into my pocket and grabbed the phone with my hand. Holding a phone between my shoulder and my ears was extremely annoying.

My legs itched to pace back and forth, but the phone's cord prevented that. Despite being a newer model, the phone still had the troublesome cord, as most public use phones do.

The line rang a few times, the call being carried across the globe. I was shuffling back and forth, waiting for the other phone to get picked up.

"Dammit, this takes forever," I mused in English.

A few more rings and the phone was picked up.

"Hello, this is the Satou residence. May I ask who's calling?" The woman on the other end was speaking English with a heavy Scottish accent.

"Hello, ma'am," I said in our native tongue. "I'm a friend of Lilly's from school. May I speak to her?"

"Oh, a friend! You must be the American boy with the odd name. Adolf, right?"

"Er, yes, that would be me. What gave it away, the English or the American accent?"

The woman, who I assumed to be Lilly's mother, laughed. "Both actually. Hold on one moment."

Lilly's mother barked playfully at Lilly to get up, telling her she had a call from a friend. As far as I knew, it was around ten in the morning in Scotland, and Lilly didn't seem like a late-sleeper. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone switching hands.

"Hello?" Lilly asked, her English accented more like a Scot than before. She sounded pretty sleepy.

"Lilly, I never took you as a late-sleeping kind of girl," I joked.

"Oh, Adolf. Is everything alright?" She sounded worried.

"Everything's fine. Hanako was in her room for two and a half days last week, though. Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday."

"I was afraid that would happen."

"Misha, Shizune, and Miki all said it happened last year. Well, Shizune said it via Misha, but you get what I mean."

"Yes, I do. It's unfortunate, since I had hoped she wouldn't have done that after meeting you." She sighed. "What did you do while she was in her room?"

"Mutou had me give her homework, but other than that... I let her be. She has her reasons, and since I was told it happened before... You know."

"Yes, I understand. It was probably best that you did that." She sighed again. "How was she after I left?"

"Good, up until the seventh. She had me get her some food from the grocery store, but she stayed in her room then, too. Before that, though, she was fine. Even as far as working in groups with Miki, Suzu, and me."

"That's good. Miss Miura and Miss Suzuki are nice girls. How about now?"

_Suzu and nice are not synonymous._

"Same, but she also attends these small tutoring sessions I've set up."

"Oh? For what?"

"English. It's only her and Hisao in the tearoom. Nothing big."

"Hanako's fairly capable with English, so I assume it's because of the exams, correct?"

"Yeah, I think so. Hisao can't use English to save his life, though."

Lilly chuckled. "Ah, Hisao. I've heard he is fairly good with science and math."

There was something tugging at the back of my mind the whole time we spoke, something that needed answered.

"Sorry to bring up this topic again," I said. "But, do you have any idea why Hanako secluded herself for those days?"

"It's fine Adolf." Lilly heaved a fairly heavy sigh. "You know about how she got her scars, right?"

"Yeah, she told me about that, as well as her parents."

I imagined Lilly grimace as she spoke. "Well, it seems as though Hanako blames herself for her parents' death."

Putting the pieces together didn't require a full attention span or the mind of a rocket scientist.

"So, she becomes depressed around her birthday because she wishes she was never born?"

"More or less, that's what I think. She seems to think her parents' deaths were her fault. Despite our closeness, Hanako has never talked to me about it that much, so, like you, most of what I know about Hanako is merely conjecture."

There was a rather dark overtone cast by the discussion of Hanako.

"That's pretty harsh, considering it couldn't possibly be her fault." I was the one sighing that time. "Well, I didn't call just to talk about Hanako. How's Scotland treating you? I can already guess that the Scottish mornings are your enemy."

"I don't want you to start, now." I stifled a laugh. "But, it's been really nice here. Having meals with my parents after so long is nice, too."

"That's good. How about Akira?"

"Oh, she seems to be enjoying herself, too. She is really fo-"

"Hey sis, who ya talkin' to?" I heard Akira interrupt, her accent definitely sounding British as opposed to Scottish or Japanese.

"I'm talking to Adolf," Lilly said, seemingly unaware of Akira's presence beforehand.

"Oh. Heya Adolf!" Akira said.

"Hey Akira," I said, which Lilly relayed. In the background, Akira said she was going to grab a beer and sit outside.

"As I was saying, she is really fond of a beach near the house. It's supposedly really beautiful, since it's far from the city."

"It sounds like the two of you have really been enjoying yourselves." Lilly made an affirmative sound. "Well, when are you two flying back?"

"Friday. We're leaving in the morning here, so it should be the evening in Japan."

"We'll be waiting." I leaned on the wall, grunting in the process. "One last thing."

"Yes?"

"How did Misha have your number?"

"Oh. Misha gave you the number?"

"Yeah, at lunch last week. I planned on calling sooner, but I was studying an awful lot."

"She likely got it from Shizune's little brother, Hideaki, who likely got the number from Akira."

"Why would Shizune's little brother get the number from Akira?"

Lilly heaved a heavy sigh. "Long story short, Shizune's father and my father are brothers."

_But don't you two have different last names? _I never had the chance to ask that question, since Lilly said she had to leave. We both said our goodbyes, so after hanging up, I headed back to my room and lied down on my bed.

"As much as I hate to say it," I quietly said to myself. "Kenji's right once more. This school has quite a few secrets."

* * *

"Adolf, is that one it?"

"No, it's a Scottish airline."

Hanako and I were sitting outside of the Sendai Airport, the same place that my life in Japan began. After mentioning when Lilly was coming back Thursday, Hanako insisted that we meet her at the airport. We'd been sitting for quite a while, the plane she pointed out being the third one since we arrived.

The two of us were chitchatting away as we waited, mainly about fiction, like books and movies. We started discussing some quite heavily, causing the time to pass quickly. Every so often, a plane would fly in, causing Hanako to hop up and ask if that was the plane. The answer was 'no' until the fifth plane landed. The answer then was 'possibly.'

Several minutes passed before Hanako directed my attention to the airport doors. Akira and Lilly emerged from the airport, carrying luggage.

"Hey, look who it is!" Akira exclaimed in Japanese when she saw us.

"Who is it?" Lilly asked.

"Lilly!" Hanako gleefully said as she ran over and hugged the tall blonde.

Lilly was surprised, and while they hugged, I turned to Akira.

"Plane food good?" I asked.

"Wasn't too bad. Could have been better, honestly," she said as she ran a hand through her hair. "Why are you two here anyway?"

My index finger was pointed right at Hanako, who was oblivious to my finger pointing. Akira had a nervous laugh.

"Well, I gotta go, so I'll see you guys soon," she said, power walking away.

"I wonder why she leaves so quickly," I said, largely to myself.

"Work," Lilly replied. "Now, whose idea was it to meet us here?"

Hanako hung her head, her cheeks red in embarrassment. "M-mine..."

"Well, Hanako, you didn't need to go out of your way just to meet me at the airport."

"But it f-felt necessary."

The two talked away as we walked to a taxi, Lilly's baggage in my hands. I sat in the front of the taxi and the girls sat in the back. While they caught up with each other, I started to nod off, a small smile on my face.

_Things are starting to look up,_ I thought.

* * *

**AN: Part of a double upload, refer to next chapter's AN.**


	20. Start of Summer

Chapter Twenty: Start of Summer

"Open the door!"

I groaned and rolled out of bed, literally. Swearing, my body lurched forward as my hands grabbed at the doorknob. The door opened a little as the knob turned, and as it did so, I fell on my back. The door swung open, smacking my foot in the process, resulting in some more swearing.

"You look like shit," Miki said as she stepped into my room.

Groaning, I sat up. "How'd you get my room number?"

My eyes followed Miki as she walked around my room, eventually plopping down in my desk chair.

"Misha told me."

I had forgotten that the Student Council obviously had all the students' room numbers. Rubbing my eyes, I got to my feet, stumbling to my bed before falling on it.

"Why are you here, exactly?" I asked, pain pulsating through my head.

"Well, I was pretty bored and I wondered what you were up to," Miki said. "But, I guess you're not doing too well."

My arm lurched over to the nightstand, my hand grasping a cup of water. I sat up and took a drink.

"No, I'm not," I said. "Got one hell of a headache and a bit of a fever."

As I replaced the cup, my head fell back on my pillows and turned to Miki at the same time. She had her right hand holding her left wrist.

"Do you need anything?" she asked, genuine concern in her voice.

"If you could get some medicine from the nurse, that'd be nice."

She nodded and got up, hurrying off to the nurse's office. As I pulled the covers back over me, my thoughts wandered around in an attempt to ignore the throbbing ache in my head. The concern Miki seemed to have was relaxing, though very uncharacteristic of her.

It was a good thing that I didn't go with Hanako and Lilly. Lilly proposed that the three of us all go to Hokkaido for the three-day weekend, but I politely declined. Exams started Wednesday and Hisao still needed help with English. On top of that, Misha asked for help in science from the both of us, so weekend study sessions were in order. Even so, Misha didn't show up, but Hisao did.

Monday morning brought a headache and fever with it, all for me. Miki showing up was quite a blessing, since I had no cold medicine in my room. As for why she showed up, my bet was on another movie day or board game day. Both seemed certainly appealing, but my current state prevented any participation.

A good ten minutes passed, the dull ache in my head not faltering at all, before Miki returned. She had a bottle of acetaminophen, which she handed to me.

"Can't open it, obviously," she said.

"I understand, thanks," I said, twisting the cap off and popping two pills into my hand.

"No problem," Miki said as she stood. "I'll come back later and check on you."

"Thanks, I'll see you later."

She walked over to me and flicked my nose, her usual grin plastered on her face. "See you then."

Miki left my room, shutting the door rather carefully behind her. Any questions I may have had about her actions were left unasked as I fell asleep soon after she left.

* * *

Thanks to Miki, I was back to full health the next day. Whether it was a good thing or not was debatable, since class was basically one big preparation period. Exams began Wednesday, but after cramming the hell out of Japanese, there was nothing to really pay attention to besides math and history. History was easier than math, however, so I didn't think there'd be much of a problem.

The school day was winding to an end, excitement amongst my classmates growing, as well as anxiety. Mutou scribbled furiously on the board, which was covered in equations and formulas already. Many of the students, Misha especially, were frantically copying down what Mutou wrote. I wasn't one of them.

My eyes were locked onto the clock, staring the minute hand down as it ticked on by. If looks could kill, the clock would have been blown to small, mechanical bits. The tense atmosphere was very unsettling and distracting.

When the bell did ring, almost everyone cleared out, all breathing huge sighs of relief. Mutou wasn't an exception, leaving with most of my classmates. Hanako left on the bell, much to my surprise. Misha, Suzu, Hisao, and Miki were still in the class with me, however.

"Adolf-chan!" Misha cried as I gathered my things. "I need help!"

"You said that before," I replied. "You know I'll help you. Hisao, you free?"

He shook his head as he walked out the door. "I have some things I have to do. See you around."

My head bobbed up and down as he left. "'Things' better not mean 'Emi.'"

Miki overheard me and laughed. "Jealous much?" she asked.

"Now why would I be jealous?" I asked. She shrugged and we left it at that.

Misha tugged on my shirt. "I seriously need help, though."

"With what? Science?"

"Um... everything."

A hefty sigh was released from my lungs. "Misha, I cannot possibly help you with everything. What do you need the most help in?"

"Science."

"What do you know? So do we," Suzu said, dragging Miki with her. "Feel like helping all of us, Hitler?"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't keep calling me Hitler, but sure. I'll help."

Misha's eyes widened and she gave me a firm hug. "Really Adolf-chan? Oh thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"It's alright Misha," I said. "Now, we just need somewhere to go..."

"Why not the Shanghai?" Misha suggested, still hugging me. Miki and Suzu seemed to find it amusing.

"Great idea, Misha. Now, can you let me go?"

She let me go and I slung my bag over my shoulder. The four of us walked out of the school and down the hill to the Shanghai, idle chatter amongst us. Misha was her usual loud and bubbly self, managing to spark conversation regardless of who she was talking to.

Yuuko greeted us once we entered the teahouse, leading us to a corner booth. As usual, I ordered coffee. Misha ordered tea, as did Suzu, but Miki took a coffee like I did. Yuuko hurried off to get our orders, leaving the four of us alone. I pulled my science notebook out of my bag and placed it on the table.

Once Yuuko came back with our drinks, we began. Misha needed the most help, asking me an extensive amount of questions. Helping Misha actually helped the other two, since their questions overlapped.

Yuuko was kept busy by refilling our drinks as I tutored the three girls. Suzu fell asleep a couple hours in, so we took a break. After half an hour, Misha accidentally woke Suzu with her trademark laugh. Suzu got the full blast of the "Wahaha~!" machine, causing her to bolt upright.

The sun was starting to set and Misha started to get a grasp on the material. Trying to make her understand was the equivalent of pulling teeth, reminding me why education wasn't the career field for me. Miki and Suzu, however, had a firm grasp on what they needed help with. We agreed on helping Misha for a bit longer, until darkness started to set in.

After another hour or so, the night started to present itself. We each payed our bills, which also accounted for dinner, and bid Yuuko goodnight. I glanced at Misha several times as we walked up the hill. She looked like she had been thoroughly cooked on a rotisserie.

"Burned out?" I asked.

"Yeah," the normally bubbly girl replied. She was visibly tired, having nothing to 'Wahaha~!' about.

"What did you and Shizune do this weekend, anyway?"

She started twirling one of her drills with her finger. "We went shopping."

My hand and my face exchanged greetings again. "I can't believe you."

Misha seemed a little embarrassed, starting to twirl her drill even faster. "Um, Adolf-chan, did you know that Hanako joined the newspaper club?"

There were three surprised gasps. Miki and Suzu, who were talking amongst themselves, stopped in their tracks just as quickly as I did.

"You're joking, right?" I asked, completely shocked.

Misha shook her head, the drills bouncing around. "Nope. As a member of the Student Council, these sorts of things are to be known to me."

_Hard to believe anyone would trust you with information,_ I thought.

"Come to think of it," Miki said, tapping her chin with her stump. "I did see her talking with Naomi earlier today."

"Naomi? Who's that?" I asked.

"Blonde hair, sits beside Hanako," Suzu said. "She's a member of the newspaper club and a hardcore recruiter." She yawned. "Tried recruiting me once. I drooled on her paper."

"Well, that's interesting," I said.

As we walked, we discussed some possible reasons for Hanako to join the newspaper club. Suzu came up with some ridiculous theory about Hanako wanting to uncover a terrorist cell that was forming inside of the school, using the school newspaper to expose them. She sounded like Kenji. Misha actually laughed, but the whole time, I wondered about the real reason why Hanako joined the club. It was great that she did so, but it still left me wondering.

* * *

The minute hand on the clock moved ever so slowly, its ticking maddening. The tip of the eraser bounced on the desk, synchronized with the ticks. A poorly stifled yawn escaped someone's mouth.

The last day of the exams brought much excitement, but at the same time, just as much fatigue. While I still wondered why Hanako joined the newspaper club, the exams prevented me from thinking too hard about it.

From Wednesday until Saturday, the exams left my brain in a deep fryer, so all I did was crawl back to my room and sleep. Japanese exams were far more difficult than any exam I had taken in the United States.

Sunday was a leisurely day, one that Miki decided to spend on the track with Suzu and myself. Though it was physically exhausting, it was fun. Suzu got mad when she was laughed at, largely because of how slow she was, but we had a good time, playing some board games and ordering pizza afterward.

Monday, however, was far from relaxing. The last day of the exams may have had an aura of relief surrounding it, but the exams didn't get any easier. As the day winded to an end, several students became increasingly anxious, myself included. Once the exams were done, only five days remained until summer break, which was highly anticipated by everyone.

Only a couple people weren't finished with their exams, namely Misha. She was furiously writing, the sound of her pencil's graphite scratching on the paper being the loudest thing in the room. Perfectly fitting for the loudest girl in the room.

My hands grasped my desk and pushed back, cracking my back as I yawned. My eyes darted around, the boredom killing me. Suzu had fallen asleep, unsurprisingly, while Shizune was watching Misha, likely bored as well. Misha was furiously writing, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth, looking extremely focused. Miki had her head propped up, lazily staring out the window. Hisao had his head on his desk and Hanako was absorbed in a book.

The remaining five minutes of class finished and the bell rang.

"WOOHOO!" Misha boomed, her drills bouncing around. She apparently finished her work.

"Mikado." That was all Mutou said, his tone implying that she'd better shut up.

Misha gave a puzzled look as Mutou went around, collecting the papers from everyone. Once they were all collected, we were allowed to leave. Miki waved me down and we walked out with Suzu. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of Hanako walking with the Naomi girl. She had done it after school a couple times the previous week, but it was still something I had to get used to. Mutou also held Hisao back, which I thought was a little strange.

Miki let out one helluva sigh. "Oh god, I am _glad_ that those tests are over."

Suzu nodded, her eyes half-open. "If he didn't have to take them, I would have thought our American friend made them."

"I'm right here Suzu," I said, glaring at her.

She cracked a lopsided grin. "I know. It wouldn't have been fun to say otherwise."

My hands flew in the air in exasperation. Suzu was able to strike a nerve even when stressed. Despite my annoyance with the narcoleptic girl, what Miki said a while back came to mind.

"_That's just the way she is."_

I had learned that by then. Despite how cold Suzu was to me, it seemed as though she considered me a friend. Otherwise, she wouldn't crack such cold jokes. That was my reasoning.

The halls were chock-full of students, some stumbling, others jumping for joy, a few acting as if it was a normal day. The reactions were varied, but there was a unified relief everyone felt that was very tangible.

_This week's going to be lax,_ I thought. Since there was no point to teach anything that wasn't going to be used for six weeks, that was the only logical answer. However, Japan did have a knack for screwing me.

The stream of other students basically pushed us outside, requiring little effort to walk on our part. Once we were outside, largely thanks to the macroorganism that was the student body, the three of us were given some breathing room to walk to the dorms. The sun's rays beamed down on us, possibly warming Suzu's coldness. That was unlikely, but a pleasing thought.

A combined yawn escaped my mouth and Suzu's at the same, and the yawn effect pulled Miki into it.

"Dammit!" Miki cursed post-yawn, smacking the two culprits of the yawn.

Suzu and I laughed at Miki, which caused her to swing at us again. I hopped back, avoiding her fingers, but Suzu got hit in the arm by the stump. Suzu just rubbed her arm, mock anger on her face. Miki ignored her and took a deep breath.

"So!" she boomed. "What do you guys have planned for the summer?"

Suzu frowned. "You should know what I'm doing, moron."

Miki had wore an expression that made it seem like Suzu was right.

"Right, staying here." She turned to me, jabbing her stump at me. "And what about you Adolf? Going to visit the land of freedom?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. My plans for the summer never really went any further than to relax."

"You're supposed to think ahead!"

"Excuse me for living in the present," I said with mock disapproval.

"What about right now?" she asked the two of us.

"Sleep," Suzu and I said simultaneously.

Miki threw her arms up. "You two are so like-minded!"

"I don't see how," Suzu said. "I don't think about looking at girl's panties."

"I'd hope not," I commented. What she meant sunk in shortly after. "Oh, don't you start this bullshit again."

The two girls shared a laugh as the dorms came into view. Rin's mural was still plastered in front of the dorms. How it was a contribution to the festival was beyond me, since only a few people seemed to enjoy it, myself included. The faces were downright creepy sometimes, however. Especially at night, when the moonlight would reflect off of the white paint...

We parted ways, waving goodbye and such before entering our respective dormitories. The common area in the boys' dorm held the normal group of seniors and juniors, Haruhiko among them. He held his hand up and I did the same. He was one of the few male friends I had at Yamaku.

Once I made it to my room, the bed became occupied. My limbs moved in a snow angel-making fashion on the sheets, the coolness making me euphoric. My fun was interrupted by the realization that I was still wearing all of my school clothes, even the bag. Tossing those to the side, my body and my bed rejoined. My eyes started to feel heavy, so the lids closed and before I knew it, I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

There was an irritatingly loud pounding that woke me up Saturday morning.

"No!" I shouted in English. "Go away! I don't want any of your damn Girl Scout cookies."

The knocking stopped, allowing me to get comfortable once more. As my face got buried further into the lovely pillow, my ears picked up an anomalous sound: laughter. At first, it didn't bother me. I got irritated pretty quickly, however, so action needed to be taken.

Grunting, I threw the sheets off and hopped out of bed, nearly falling over in the process. Righting myself, I walked to the door and threw it open, forgetting that the only clothing on me was a pair of boxers.

Rubbing my eyes, two figures came into view, one slightly hunched over and the other standing back. As my blurry vision cleared, the two figures turned out to be Kenji and Miki. Kenji seemed about right, but Miki did not fit anywhere in the equation. Kenji noticed the opened door first and threw his hands up.

"Dude, I tried to keep her from bugging you, but you can tell that did not go according to plan," he said in Japanese.

Almost immediately, my brain went into Japanese mode. "It's fine," I replied, my voice expressing how groggy I was.

"Okay, well it seems like you have this under control. Talk to you later."

Kenji quickly backed into his room, his back arched like he was a frightened cat. Once the door closed, I noticed Miki looking at me, her eyes wide.

"Those suit you," she said.

I sighed at her comment and walked back into my room, putting a stray pair of pants on. She followed me in and took a seat at my desk, whistling the whole time.

"So, do you always sleep in your underwear?" she asked. The question didn't feel right, but it wasn't particularly awkward.

"No. Usually I wear an old t-shirt, too."

I started taking my pills, having slept until nearly noon. The process was an old habit, pop open a bottle, tap out a few pills, take the pills, move on to the next bottle. Miki just watched as my hands danced around with the bottles, robotically handling them. Once the pills were all downed, I sat on my bed.

"Now, what do you wake me up so early for?" I asked.

"Early? It's almost noon!"

"It's the first day of summer break, Miki. You don't wake someone before two."

"Really? Maybe in America, but not here."

"But I am an American, therefore, the rules still apply."

"Whatever." She lazily cast her hand through the air. "You plan on doing anything later?"

My arms raised above my head in a stretch. "Yeah. I'm going to see Hanako off on her trip with the newspaper club."

"And when's that?"

I glanced at the clock. "About five-ish?"

"Well, you got some time, so get your ass up!" She started tugging on my arm.

I sprawled out on my bed. "Not moving, so just save your energy."

She stood and grunted. "Alright then. Suzu and I will be in town if you want to spend time with two marvelous girls."

"Okay," I said, nodding.

She strolled across my room, opening the door. We exchanged farewells and she left to go into town with the sleepiest girl in the school. There was nothing to do except shower and brush my teeth, my glorious slumber destroyed by Miki.

Hisao gave me a 'morning' nod as I stumbled out into the halls, one I returned. Once I reached the showers, however, my brain instantly recharged, the warm water having some kind of charging effect. My schedule for the first day of summer ran through my head.

_5-7 P.M.: See Hanako off at train station._

That was all my schedule consisted of. Since she joined the newspaper club, she actually worked up the courage to travel around some of Japan with them. Joining them would have been a good idea, but I had no business being there. Naomi, the girl who recruited Hanako, was getting along well with Hanako. While she was loud, she was also supposedly really nice, likely why they got along.

From what Lilly had said before, Hanako only started acting that way after we met, which wasn't too much of a shock to me. I'd compared her actions from before and after we started hanging around each other, noticing a large change in behavior post-me. Very strange, considering how unobservant I can be at times.

Before long, I was cleaned off. The shower became vacant, leaving a man who felt extremely refreshed. After the towel was wrapped around me, I brushed my teeth, then finished drying off. Soon after, some clothes that were picked out at random were slipped on.

_What to do? _I thought as the hall passed by me.

Before I knew it, the the stairs disappeared from my beneath my feet and the common are was right in front of me. A couple of the usual dudes were there, like Haruhiko and Hayashi. Hayashi was another guy in my class who I started talking to in the last week. He was a pretty relaxed guy, despite his bad osteoporosis. They noticed me and nodded in my direction, a gesture that was returned.

The one person out of place, however, was a taller than normal guy. He was dark-haired and was talking on his phone, his voice eerily familiar. I had a hunch as to who he was, but he was still talking. After a few minutes, he finished on the phone and he was open to conversation.

"Ey, ty russiky, ne tak li?" I asked as I neared him. _Hey, you're Russian, right?_

His eyebrows raised. "Da. Vy govorite na russkom?" _Yes. You speak Russian?_

_Yep. He's the Russian guy from before,_ I thought.

I nodded and switched back to Japanese. "Surprised?"

He shrugged. "Not exactly a common thing around here." Just as easily, he switched to Japanese as well.

It was strange, talking to another foreigner in a language you both knew that wasn't Japanese. Actually getting to use Russian was a plus, too. German was used almost as often as English back home, but Russian was never used, since my uncle was on the German side.

"Then again, nothing's normal around here," I commented to the Russian guy as I held out my hand. "I'm Adolf."

"Mikhail." He took my hand and shook, then pulled out his phone and looked at it. "Sorry, but I have to go."

"By all means, do," I said.

Mikhail nodded in a 'see you around' way and walked out of the dorms. Hayashi turned to me from his seat on the couch.

"So, you finally met the Soviet, huh?" he asked.

"I doubt he's a Soviet, but yeah. I guess so."

Hayashi shrugged. "He's a pretty cool dude. Hangs out with that Katayama chick a lot, though."

I merely nodded as I remembered that there was something I had forgot to do. Who the Katayama chick was wasn't any of my concern. Telling the guys at the couch I'd talk to them later, I walked up to my room. There wasn't a rush, so it was pointless to make it one.

My room door slid open then closed quite soundlessly. My feet were quite the opposite, making noise with every step. Just like there was no rush, there was no need to be so quiet. I opened up my laptop and booted it up, taking a seat.

Once the computer was booted up, I opened my e-mail, reading through what I had received. The mail hadn't been checked for a couple of weeks, since I last wrote to my uncle. There were the usual spam messages and nothing from my uncle, but one e-mail caught my eye.

The sender's e-mail seemed oddly familiar, but since I barely added people to my e-mail contacts, I didn't know. The subject, however, was eye-catching: "My man Adolf!"

The mouse hovered over the link to open the week-old e-mail, but just as I was about to click, someone started knocking on the door. _Probably Kenji, wanting my input on another battle plan..._

Hefty sigh in tow, I stood and walked to the door. My hand curled around the doorknob and the door slowly opened. The sight on the other side shocked the hell out of me, for it was a face I hadn't seen for months.

* * *

**ACT TWO**

"**FOLLOW YOU, FOLLOW ME"**

**COMPLETE**

* * *

**AN: Nice cliffhanger for act two, huh? Not exactly a cliffhanger. It was an idea my friend proposed, and after some tossing around, we got some oomf to it. That was the only thing, though. **

**Sadly, this is the start of my break from writing now. This is unfortunate for those of you who want me to hurry my ass up and get to the intimate parts (I chastise myself for taking so long, too), but very fortunate for me. I've been increasingly burnt out, so those intimate parts can hold up.**

**Intimate scenes will be present early in act three, and if you haven't guessed who Adolf is attracted to, there's something seriously wrong with you. Very wrong.**

**Bob North, I'm not even able to reply completely to your review right now. All I can say is thank you for the advice with writer's block. Also, you should consider writing the Adventures of Matman. I'd read it.**

**Mournful3ch0, if you make it to this, I read your comment from chapter 7. I'm glad you like the story, and while some things happen between Adolf and Hanako, I encourage you to keep reading.**

**As for anything else, just PM me. I've got some visits with family I have to make, so I will not return until Sunday night, Monday morning. If I do start writing again after I make it home, it will not be act three. It will likely be for my crossover story.**

**A little thing to clear up. Haruhiko was never based off of Haruhi Suzumiya. In fact, I never knew who the latter was until recently.**

**Act Two is still tentatively named "Follow You, Follow Me" (which is a really good Genesis song, in case you never heard it), but like I said before, it may change. Also, the title merely refers to the break, not the actual season.**

**Regardless, keep reading, keep writing, and as always, keep on fighting the good fight! (And/Or drop a review if you want)**


	21. Ein Alter Freund

**AN: This chapter is fairly heavy with dialogue. Also, Act Three doesn't have a name as of yet.**

* * *

**ACT THREE**

* * *

Chapter Twenty-One: Ein Alter Freund

My body lurched forward as my old friend's arms wrapped me in an embrace. It was unsurprisingly firm, more of a bear hug than anything. Over my friend's shoulder, I saw Kenji backing into his room once more, which implied that he was disturbed by the newcomer.

"Aw dude, it's been a while!" my old pal said.

"I... can't... breathe..." I gasped, his grip constricting my breathing.

He let me go and started to apologize. Hearing English again was pleasant, especially from a voice different than Lilly's. I accepted his apology and invited him into my room. He entered, shutting the door behind him, as I grabbed two Cokes out of the mini-fridge. I handed him one and he sat on my bed, leaving me to sit in the desk chair.

"Tell me Louis," I said as my fingers curled around the pop tab. "What are you doing in Japan?"

"Vacation," he replied as he opened his Coca-Cola can. "Been here a week, actually."

"A week?" Louis nodded, the carbonated drink gushing down his throat. "So, when do you go back?"

"Tonight." He set the soda can on my nightstand. "Woulda came sooner, but my parents were dragging my ass all around Sendai and down into Tokyo."

"Sucks that you have to go back tonight." I took a long drink from the can, ingesting all of the soft drink and letting out a long belch after. "How about I show you around?"

Louis finished off his can and nodded. "Sure, why not? Kinda became an expert at looking around this past week."

I stood, grabbing my wallet at the same time. "Alright, let's go then."

He stood, the top of his head level with the tip of my ears. We left my room and headed down past the common area. After telling Haruhiko and Hayashi I'd explain later, Louis and I walked out onto the school grounds. There were quite a few students hustling about.

Once we reached the gates, I noticed a car parked outside of the gates. It was an older beige Honda Accord, which I assumed Louis drove to Yamaku.

"Rental?" I asked and Louis nodded. "What about your parents? Don't they need a car?"

Louis shook his head. "They're just walking around Sendai today, so they let me use the car. There's a GPS in there, which is how I got here."

"I expected that. You think I would be dumb enough to figure you came here by memory?"

"Uh..."

"Screw you too, asshole," I said as I walked to the right side of the car, opening the door. "I'll drive."

"Don't you need a license or something?"

My arm rested on the ajar door. "We're only going into the town down there." My finger was aimed down the hill.

Louis grunted and got into the passenger side, which would be the American driver side, and I slid into the driver seat. The door shut with a soft thump and the engine quickly started when I turned the key. Putting the automatic transmission into 'drive,' the two of us rode down the hill.

"Surprised you were able to drive here," I commented.

Out of the corner of my eye, Louis shrugged. "I sorta am, too."

I disregarded his possibly illegal drive to Yamaku from Sendai and continued driving, despite the fact I wasn't legally allowed to drive in Japan either. However, there were rarely police patrolling the area near Yamaku and I didn't drive recklessly, so trouble didn't seem likely.

It took a mere five minutes for me to pull the rental car next to the Shanghai. Had we walked, it could have taken nearly half an hour, making the car a blessing. The two of us got out and Louis followed me into the Shanghai.

The Shanghai actually had customers, likely making Yuuko much more nervous. However, upon reaching the counter, Yuuko was nowhere in sight. My fingers bounced off of the bell, a sound other than the bell being made.

"Oomph!"

Following the thump and the groan, Yuuko shot up from behind the counter, fussing with her glasses and begging for an apology at the same time.

"Hello welcome to the Shanghai I wasn't sleeping please forgive me!" she exclaimed in a single breath, all in oddly understandable Japanese.

"Calm down Yuuko," I said.

Yuuko sighed in relief when she put her glasses back on and recognized me. "Oh, thank goodness it's you. Do you want coffee?"

I nodded. "A bowl of spicy curry and a pot of coffee."

"A pot?"

Her eyes drifted behind me to Louis and she nodded in acknowledgment. While she hurried off to prepare my order, I led the confused Louis to a table in the back. Along the way, we passed the albino girl and Mikhail, so I gave the latter a friendly nod. He returned the nod while the albino gave me a cold, hard stare.

"Creepy," I said in English once we moved far enough away from the two.

"What?"

"Nothing." _He didn't notice._

The booth was in a corner, actually being the same one my little study group used over a week before. Louis sat across from me, the sunlight making his ever-present stubble all the more noticeable.

"I see you still shave like a drunk," I joked.

"And you haven't shaved for once."

My fingers rubbed my jawline, stray hairs being very tangible. Usually, I would shave every other morning or so, but exams had left me too stressed to remember. I assumed that my face was somewhat haggard-looking.

"Guess not. I might actually let it grow some."

Louis opened his mouth to speak, but the clattering of china cut him off as Yuuko made her way to our table. The order was prepared in record time, though she needed work on her 'actually placing the order on the table' time. I thanked her once the dishes were on the plate and poured coffee for the both of us. Taking a sip of the coffee, my taste buds gave it their seal of approval.

"You still drink coffee like a fiend, mein Führer," Louis commented after I downed my mug and refilled it.

"Whatever," I said indifferently, ignoring the nickname. "You know I only drink so much caffeine because it calms my nerves."

"And what are you nervous about?"

"Nothing. Just thirsty now."

Another torrent of coffee went down my throat. The whole time, my mind kept trying to come up with some sort of reason as to why Louis was there, since vacation could have been spent somewhere else. Sure, I was glad to see my best friend, but the question still tugged at the back of my mind, so I decided to just ask.

"So, why did you decide to come to the Sendai area? Why not Okinawa or something?"

"Okinawa? Wasn't that one of the places in World at War?"

"Yes, but I'm being serious. That place supposedly has great beaches. Hell, even Hokkaido is a popular spot."

"Your point?"

My lungs heaved in a sigh. "I'm just wondering why you're here other than vacation. There has to be a reason."

It was Louis' turn to sigh. "If you want to know, it was because of your uncle."

"Godda-"

"No, just listen." My mouth shut and my ears were attentive as I kept sipping at the coffee. "My parents wanted to know where we could go for vacation. They asked your uncle and he suggested Sendai."

"And they just listened to him?"

Louis shook his head. "They mulled over all the options over a week. Eventually, they ruled out Seoul, Barcelona, London, and Rome, leaving us with Sendai. So, here I am."

The next hour was spent talking about his expeditions throughout Sendai and Tokyo. I was slowly eating my curry the whole time, taking in everything he described. One of Louis' biggest issues was the usage of Japanese throughout Japan. Though it shouldn't have surprised anyone, he apparently anticipated much more English usage in the Land of the Rising Sun. His only other language was Spanish, bits of German and Russian notwithstanding.

He also found himself fawning over the high school girls when he walked around the city. His attempts to get phone numbers were quite funny to hear. Not only did most of the girls he spoke to not speak English, his efforts would have been ultimately futile, since he would never talk to them again. Even if they did, it wouldn't be in a mutually understood language.

"You do know that the girls would have never understood you, right?" I remarked.

"So? They were hot, and the only language I'd need is the language of love." Louis had a wide smirk on his face.

I laughed. "Kono yōno baka," I said. _You're such an idiot._

Louis raised his eyebrows in confusion. "The hell did you say?"

I shook my head, grinning. "Don't worry about it."

Another hour or so passed, the two of us making smalltalk. He told me about the happenings at my old school, which he still attended. Before the American summer break started, some people voiced their envy of me for being able to go to Japan, which really pissed me off. Various other unimportant things were discussed, and by the time I checked my watch, my body shot up.

"What's wrong dude?" Louis asked, slightly startled by my sudden movement.

"Scheiße! Look at the time!" I exclaimed, tilting the watch to him.

"It's two-fifteen. So what?"

"I need to be at the train station in a couple hours!"

"One, stop yelling. Two, for what?"

I groaned. "One of my friends is going on a cross-country trip. I was going to see her off."

"Her?" Louis' eyes had a glint of mischievousness in them.

"Don't start, douche."

"Alright then, man. Where do you need to go, exactly?"

I slumped back into my seat, sighing. "Sendai Station."

"How long would a bus ride take?"

I shrugged. "A few hours, and the next bus at the school doesn't show up until three."

"Well, guess what?" I groaned in response. "I need to get back to Sendai, anyway."

"So, we're driving?"

"Yep."

I conceded, though I was reluctant to do so. The possibility of being arrested due to Louis' possible illegal driving wasn't pleasing, but something of a necessity. We both stood, Louis walking to the car while I paid the bill. Yuuko stopped me before I could leave, however.

"Who is that boy?" she asked, nervousness gripping her voice.

"An old friend, Yuuko. That's all."

"Oh, okay then."

I turned to leave and bid Yuuko farewell. The warm summer air met me in a short blast as I walked to passenger side of the Accord and got into the warm interior. Had it not been parked in the shade, Louis and I would have entered an oven of a car.

Louis started the car and turned on the AC, cooling the car off some. He turned the GPS on and we made our way to Sendai.

* * *

"Turn right in four hundred meters."

"Yeah, I know! Damn GPS."

We had been stuck in traffic for half an hour, almost at the station. The GPS had been informing us to turn right the entire time, causing Louis to get mad at the navigational system. Traffic started to move again and we made it a hundred meters before having to stop again. It was five o'clock, giving me half a mind to just get out and walk. Louis, however, insisted on accompanying me to the station.

Louis grunted. "Traffic here sucks ASS!"

"Calm down, man. High blood pressure isn't a good thing," I said.

"Says the guy with bipolar." He snorted. "Anyway, what's your new school like? You haven't said much about it."

"Did my uncle say anything about it?"

Louis shook his head and traffic moved again, revealing a parking space next to the sidewalk.

"Just park there," I said. "We'll walk the rest of the way."

Louis nodded and pulled the car into the space. Once parked, the two of us got out and started to walk.

"Anyway," Louis said. "Like I asked. Your school?"

"Yamaku Academy is a school for disabled students," I said. "My uncle never told you that, huh?"

Louis' eyes were wide. "Like I said, he didn't say shit about it. But... a school for the disabled? Surely you're not disabled."

I nodded. "I got sent here because of arrhythmia and numerous other issues. What's strange is the fact that I can run long distances and be perfectly fine."

"What do you mean?"

"I joined the track team my second week here. Second best runner on the team."

We came to a crosswalk and waited for the signal amidst a crowd of people.

"So, no hockey at all?"

"Some of the students are missing limbs, dude. I know of four off the top of my head."

Louis cringed. "That's kind of gross."

"You get used to it. One girl, Rin, is armless. Despite having no arms, she's an artist and paints quite a bit. That mural you may have seen whenever you came to my dorm? She did that."

The signal for the crowd to walk turned and we got pushed with the crowd.

Louis' eyes were wider than ever. "But, how would she do that?"

"Her feet. Emi, who has no legs, is the fastest runner on the track team. That's not too surprising, given the fact that prostheses are used and such, but you understand."

Louis nodded. "Didn't know about the prosthetics, but yeah."

I decided against bringing Molly and Miki up. I knew next to nothing about Molly, other than that she was Indian and her prostheses looked like Terminator legs, and Miki didn't perform any extraordinary feats given her missing hand. She had one hell of a time writing, though.

"So, no hockey team at all?" Louis asked again as we stood outside of the train station.

"No, though I wouldn't mind making one."

"Remember, you need some super Swedes, a few Russians, a Canadian or two, and the two of us."

I laughed at his suggestion as we walked up the stairs. "Still acting like a GM, huh?"

"You know it."

"Come to think of it, I did meet a Russian before you showed up..."

"There you go! You got your Ruskie!"

I laughed. "Doubt it, man."

We reached the platform that Hanako's train was on in a short amount of time. The whole time, Louis was questioning me about girls.

_Typical Louis, _Ithought. _Always worried about girls._

We walked down the platform, my eyes racing around for the newspaper club. A tall blonde figure helped me pinpoint their location, so I dragged Louis through the crowds. I let him go once we were close enough to the departing group.

Naomi was chatting with a guy with long, messy black hair. The two were chitchatting away, as were Hanako and Lilly. Hanako looked around while chatting with Lilly, and when her eyes locked onto me, she basically sprinted over and gave me what was damn near my second bear hug of the day.

"Adolf!" she exclaimed in Japanese. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

Behind us, Louis cleared his throat. "Woo! Go Adolf!" he said in English.

Hanako heard him and quickly pushed away, her cheeks firetruck red. "W-who is that?" she asked, still in Japanese.

"An old friend of mine who happened to be in Sendai for the past week," I replied. "He can't speak a single word of Japanese, though."

"Oh."

I turned around to face Louis, but he had moved to talk to Lilly, oddly. _Maybe she heard him speak English and beckoned him over,_ I reasoned.

"Well, Hanako, where are you guys going?" I asked.

She scratched her head and started to list places the newspaper club planned on visiting, namely Tokyo and Okinawa. She was visibly excited as she listed the locations, making me happy for her. She was going out with new friends to new places, which wasn't something Hanako would have done when I first arrived.

She then asked about my plans for the summer. I told her I didn't really have any, causing her to insist I travel with the newspaper club. Not being part of the newspaper club, it only felt right to decline, not to mention the fact I had nothing packed. She was disappointed, but understood my reasoning.

The PA systems announced the departure of Hanako's train and I told her to have fun. She gave me another hug and hurried onto the train after hugging Lilly. Lilly and I waved to her as the train departed, and as I looked around, I noticed the guy with long, messy black hair waving as well.

Louis slugged me in the arm. "Hey, I gotta get back, but before I do, a couple things." The English caught me off guard for some reason.

I turned to face him. "What?"

He reached into his pocket and produced a cell phone. "New phone. Your uncle said you had an upgrade, so I chose a phone for you and decided to bring it. It should work fine here."

The phone entered my hands and then my pocket. "Thanks. And the second thing?"

"Try to let go." He turned to leave. "You guys have winter break, right? Come back and visit, then."

I didn't understand what he meant about letting go, but I stopped him and gave him a manly bear hug, regardless. He always visited me in the hospital and attended my sister's funeral, yet I never got to express my gratitude, so I decided to do so.

"Now... I can't... breathe..." Louis choked out.

I laughed and let him go. "Thanks, man."

"For what?"

"When I was in the hospital and Emily's funeral."

Louis shrugged. "It was nothing. We're best friends, right? We look out for each other."

"Yeah. I'll see you this winter, then."

Louis grinned. "See you then, man. Keep in touch on Xbox."

I nodded as he started to walk away. Just as quickly as he showed up into my life in Japan, my best friend left just as fast. It was sad, but life went on. I spun around to see Lilly leaving with a black suited figure. Akira showed up mysteriously all the time, it seemed.

The black-haired guy was still around, and since he was talking with Naomi, I decided to approach him.

"Hey," I said in Japanese, holding my hand up in greeting.

"Geiá," he said in a language I didn't know.

"Japanese, please."

"Sorry," he said in Japanese. "That's Greek for 'hey.'"

"Greek? Who the hell learns Greek these days?"

He shrugged. "Why not? It's an interesting language."

"Ja, sicher," I said. _Yeah, sure._

"Oh my god, don't you start speaking German."

I chuckled. "Why? Sie sprechen Deutsch?" _You speak German?_

He shook his head. "Very little. A couple words, that's it."

"You understood that."

He nodded. "Yeah, because that's one of the few things I know in German." He turned to face me more directly. "Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Katakana Matsumoto." His hand was extended.

_Isn't katakana a character set?_

I took his hand and shook. "I'm Ad-"

"Adolf Riese, right?"

"Err... Yeah, how'd you know?"

"The newspaper, Naomi, and Kenji Setou. She mentioned you and Ikezawa working together a while back and there was an article with your picture in the paper a while ago."

_Kenji gets his claws into everyone, huh? _"A newspaper article? About me?"

Matsumoto shook his head. "It was actually about the track meet in June."

"Oh, that makes sense. What about Kenji?"

"Asked me if I saw you. Something about a field report, I don't know."

_Typical Kenji._

The two of us started to walk down out of the train station, pushing through groups of people. It was awfully loud, so neither of us talked. The whole while, I kept mulling over what Louis said about letting go. Once we reached the entrance of the station, Matsumoto turned to me.

"You going back to Yamaku?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Don't know where the bus station is, though."

He shook his head once more. "Come with me."

He led me into one of the parking lots and to a jet black Nissan Skyline. He opened the driver-side door and got in while I stood still like an idiot.

"Get in!"

I complied and opened the passenger-side door, sitting down on the rather comfortable seat.

"Mein Gott," I said inside of the tuner. "Eto vasha mashina?" _This is your car?_

"Da."

"You speak Russian?"

He shook his head. "Only a bit. I was taking lessons, though."

Matsumoto put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. Somehow, we evaded traffic and were on the fast lane to Yamaku. Not too much was said for a majority of the ride, my thoughts just wandering around. Louis' visit certainly threw me off, actually causing a bit of melancholy to develop.

_No matter, _ I thought. _Tanabata's coming up, so I should relax._

That was true. Tanabata was another festival, though it was a light festival or something of the sort. Regardless, it was a festival, and as such, it would certainly be fun, allowing me to kick the melancholy in the ass.

"So, Matsumoto," I finally said to take my mind elsewhere. "You're friends with Naomi?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and call me Katakana."

_Why does everyone insist on me calling them by their first names? I didn't learn about honorifics for nothing, people!_

"Alright then, Katakana. You see her as anything more than a friend?"

He was hesitant to answer. "I'm not sure. What about you and Ikezawa?"

I shook my head. "Good friends, that's it."

He mumbled something, but I didn't ask what he said. He was giving me a ride after all. The passing scenery mixed into one big blur when Katakana decided to speed up. Akira's driving was much more reckless, and having survived two rounds of that, his driving didn't make me nervous.

Eventually, the two of us started breaking into small talk during the last half-hour of the drive. It turned out that Katakana played video games quite often, so we discussed games. That certainly made the last leg of the ride less awkward.

The sky was a lightly burnt orange whenever we pulled into the Yamaku parking lot. Katakana had my thanks as I walked through the gates and onto the school grounds. He stayed in the parking lot for some reason.

Inside the dorms, Hayashi and Haruhiko demanded an explanation, which I provided. The learned about Louis being my best friend and strangely vacationing in Sendai. The two of them let me go and I headed to my dorm room.

I was just about to roll onto my bed when there was a third knock on my door. For all I knew, my long dead mother was paying me a visit.

"What now?" I asked as I opened the door.

"Bro, relax," Kenji said with a pointedly cool demeanor. "Those Student Council bitches gave me these for you." He held out two envelopes, both of which were snatched up by me. "There aren't any bombs in them, by the way."

I frowned. "You read them?"

Kenji shook his head. "No, I just felt them. I didn't feel anything suspicious, so I didn't have to open them, though one is an anonymous letter."

"Thanks."

"No problem. See you around."

He shut my door and I sat on my bed, opening the letters. The first one was from my uncle, a $250 check to use only when I absolutely needed it. He was certainly giving me a lot of money. I stuffed the check into an Xbox game case and returned to the second letter.

The letter was written on a piece of notebook paper in English. The penmanship was distinctly feminine.

Girls' dorm common area

12:00 P.M. Tuesday

"Noon on Tuesday?" I asked aloud, to no one in particular.

I set the letter on my desk, curious as to who sent the letter and why they want me to meet them in the girls' dorm, as well as why they wrote the letter in English.

"Guess I'll find out Tuesday," I mumbled as I rolled off my bed to take another shower.

* * *

**AN: Writer's block, the evil piece of crap it is, is what held me up for so long.**

**Louis is meant to act as Adolf's letter from Iwanako. Sure, the effects aren't immediate, but they'll show. This specific chapter caused me all of the writer's block thanks to Louis. However, I trucked through and delivered a shorter chapter that I'm not too proud of.**

**And just imagine the letter is written in a girly way.**

**This chapter is the first of a double upload, so read on.**


	22. I Wish It Would Rain Down

Chapter Twenty-Two: I Wish It Would Rain Down

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_

For the third day in a row, I was rudely awaken by loud knocking on my door. Hisao knocked Sunday, asking me if I wanted to go on a run with him and Emi. I didn't go, since he woke me up at nine in the morning. That was way too early on break, especially when sleep didn't get a hold of me until six.

"Who is it?" I called after removing my face from the pillow.

"Your brother in arms," the perpetrator replied.

"Door's open, Kenji."

Kenji actually would knock on my door, something he didn't do for Hisao. If his door was unlocked, Kenji went in. It was funny, to be honest, especially whenever he caught Emi in Hisao's room.

Kenji walked across my room and sat in my desk chair as my body forced itself upright. According to my clock, it was nine, confirming that no Japanese person knew what it meant to sleep in. My hands made their way to my eyes and wiped away the sleep.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Just wanted to tell you to meet me in the art room at one."

"You literally woke me up just to tell me that?"

Kenji shrugged. "Pretty much." Kenji stood to leave. "You got anything to drink?"

I sleepily pointed towards the mini-fridge. "Take a Coke."

Kenji thanked me and swiped one of my Cokes before leaving. I heaved a heavy sigh and tried to go back to sleep, to no avail. Ten minutes of tossing and turning later, I got up and went to the showers. Monday mornings sucked to no end, and that was a universal rule.

The shower did nothing to make me feel better, merely making me feel clean. My fatigue carried on even after I showered and brushed my teeth and went to my room. After my medicine was ingested, my body went limp on my bed. Movement was futile, for all my body desired was sleep. I had gotten sleep that night, but my body wanted more.

I forced myself up, walked out of my room, and went down to the common area. Haruhiko was sitting on the couch as usual, watching television. Having nothing better to do, I swung myself into the seat next to him.

"Hey," he said as I plopped onto the sofa.

"Hey," I returned the greeting. The TV was showing commercials. "What are you watching?"

"The _X_-_Files."_

"Didn't know that they aired that here."

Haruhiko shrugged. "It's a really interesting show."

"That it is." I liked the _X-Files. "_So, you're into aliens and stuff?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Ever watch _Back to the Future_?"

_How couldn't I? It's a classic. _"I think it'd be stupid not to watch it."

Haruhiko nodded. "Love that movie. It'd be so cool to travel through time, you know?"

We kept up the seemingly random discussion, which I assumed was Haruhiko just making conversation. That's what it was for the most part, though we learned a couple things about each other in the process. I learned that his favorite Pokémon was Espeon, he had a knack for cooking, and he had an older sister who was extremely eccentric. He learned that I enjoyed anime and couldn't cook all that well.

The two of us then watched TV, occasionally starting a discussion about the show. Hayashi showed up during the third episode we watched and joined in the conversation. Each episode of the _X-Files_ had Japanese subtitles, which wasn't entirely surprising, and the discussions occasionally got heated.

Time flew, and before I knew it, one o'clock was around the corner. Remembering my meeting with Kenji, I got up, informing my two fellow watchers that it was time for me to go. They bid me farewell and I hurried out of the dorms.

The grounds weren't crowded at all, since quite a few students left for holidays. There was still a vast amount who were only staying until Tanabata passed, however. The stairs to the school were climbed in no time, only a few lingering students posing any opposition. The school itself housed quite a few students, utilizing it for recreational activities and summer school.

"Art room, right?" I asked myself as I walked through the lobby and began to climb the stairs to the third floor.

The hallways were fairly clear, bar the occasional student aimlessly wandering around. The art room was a room I hadn't visited since my third day at Yamaku, so locating it was a little tricky. By sheer luck, I managed to guess the right door, walking into a room full of mind-easing easels. Déjà vu or something.

I half-expected to see Rin in the room, painting or eating, but she wasn't there. Instead, Kenji stood next to a window, staring out of it.

"Alright, I'm here," I said.

Kenji turned around and pointed to a chair. "Please take a seat."

"Okay Chris Hansen, I'll do that." I pulled out the chair and planted my posterior on it.

"You may be wondering why I summoned you here today."

"You guessed right."

Kenji cleared his throat. "Well, let me explain. Tomorrow is Tanabata, as you may know."

"Yeah." _Strange he knows when Tanabata is, but not the festival that was in June._

"Anyway, I've got a gut feeling that something bad is about to go down. That anonymous letter you got Saturday? Bad vibes, bro, bad vibes. If you have anything planned tomorrow, I suggest you stay close to that Miura girl."

That last thing he said was absurd, given his anti-feminist crusade.

"You're suggesting I stay near a female? What?"

"Well, yeah. You confirmed she wasn't a feminist and I know you two hang around each other a lot."

"But I thought any and every woman was an enemy." Confusion legitimately took over.

"No, you moron. Feminists are the enemy. I have no issue with women, just feminists. Seriously, man. Reproduction can't happen between two men, that's just impossible. Feminists think it can happen between two women, though, which is one of the innumerable reasons they are the enemy."

_Yeah, don't want him to start numbering. Come to think of it, I won't even mention that letter's contents._

"Also," Kenji continued. "I'm leaving for my house Wednesday, so you will be without back-up. You can come if you want, since I could use an extra hand for the shelter."

I shook my head. "No. I'd love to help, but I can't."

Kenji shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"Is that all you wanted?" Kenji shook his head. "Then what else?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Hisao and Mikhail."

_Mikhail? The Russian? _"Why do you want me to do that?"

"Remember how Hisao hangs out on the roof with the limbless wonders?" I nodded. "I told Hisao before that if I wanted to kill someone and make it look like an accident, I'd push them off of the roof."

"You think Rin or Emi will push him off of the roof?"

"Yeah. The legless whore trucked through you guys, right? So I don't put it past her to murder Hisao."

What he suggested was silly, since the only way Emi would murder Hisao would be if they had sex, (I was under the impression they already did several times) and his heart gave out. Even then, it'd be involuntary manslaughter. As for Rin, one could say she'd do it for artistic inspiration, but she didn't seem to be into that sort of 'art.' She was strange, but not a sociopath.

"Okay, I'll be sure to keep Hisao safe. Strap a safety harness on him while he's on the roof."

Kenji nodded. "Good idea."

"Now what about Mikhail?"

"That chick he hangs around with, Rika, gives me really bad vibes. I mean, really fucking bad vibes man."

"Wait, just who is she?"

Kenji stroked his scarf like it was his beard. "Rika Katayama. Mikhail's girlfriend, lanky, and most notably, albino."

_So that's who she is._ "You know, Agent 47 was an albino."

"That's one of the reasons I'm worried. Albinos are perfect assassins, and she is fascinated with death, which makes her all the more suspicious." Kenji seemed genuinely concerned as he spoke.

_I didn't expect Kenji to play video games,_ I thought, surprised he got my reference.

"How do you know she's fascinated with death, anyway?"

Kenji tapped his head. "I got pretty good hearing, man. I overheard one of their conversations and she mentioned something about how fascinating death was. Or something like that."

_So, she's either fascinated with death like a serial killer or she's fascinated like a philosopher or something like that._

I decided it was best to stop Kenji from getting into more detail. "Alright, I'll keep an eye out for him, too."

Kenji nodded again. "Good. Have I ever mentioned how awesome it is having an American as an ally?"

"You have."

"Well, I'm saying it again. Hell, the JSDF should join forces with the USMC or something. We'd be the two most badass nations on the planet."

"If I'm right, the US supplies the Japanese Self-Defense Force quite a bit."

Kenji shrugged. "Maybe, but that's not the point now. Those are your missions." He walked back to the window and stared out.

_Okay, doesn't mean I'm actually going to participate in the ops. _"Say, what are you doing for Tanabata?"

Kenji didn't move an inch. "Recon."

I stood. "Well, I'm out Kenji. See you around."

"See ya man, and remember. _Semper fidelis._"

"Uh, yeah._ Semper fi._"

I figured he meant that we were always faithful to the fight against feminism. His crusade was still silly to me, but he was dedicated. As I left the room, I heard Kenji mumble something. All that reached my ears was 'ko.' Shutting the door behind me, I made my way back to the dorms to get some lunch.

* * *

Tuesday brought no pesky knocks on my door, much to my pleasure. I got out of bed at around ten, did my normal morning deal, and changed into some casual clothing, which was just a uniform shirt and khaki shorts. It was quarter 'til eleven by the time I made breakfast, and eleven by the time I finished.

The letter on my desk caught my attention once more, so I grabbed it and re-read it. The handwriting, though definitely feminine, was familiar.

Replacing the letter on the desk, I leaned back on my bed. I was really interested as to who sent the letter, and to kill the time, I turned on my laptop. _Minecraft_ was able to pass the time just as quickly as _Call of Duty_, so I started the block-building game up and started to play in one of my old worlds.

Time literally flew as I played _Minecraft_. Ten minutes remained until I was to meet the anonymous girl, so my laptop got turned off and my room became empty. Most of the guys that normally hung out in the common area weren't there, likely out experiencing the festival.

The air outside of the dorms was somewhat humid, and the girls' dorm brought a blast of coolness when I entered. There were still girls in the dorms, all wearing yukatas and giving me odd looks when I passed by, though one of them waved to me and I waved back. After doing a double take, it turned out that the girl who waved was Iwasaki, the junior girl. She ran up to me as I leaned on the wall in the common area, waiting for Anonymous to show up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked excitedly.

"Waiting for someone," I replied.

"Ooooh! Who?"

I shrugged. "To be honest, I have no idea. I just got a letter that said for me to be here at noon."

"Interesting!"

I gave her a quizzical look. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

She shook her head. "Nope! Not at all!" Iwasaki looked around. "I'll talk to you later!"

She ran off after I said goodbye. _Someone's excited today,_ I thought. _But, to each their own and all that fun crap._

My head rested on the wall, my eyes closed as the meeting time slowly drew near. After what seemed like an eternity, someone poked me. Opening one eye, I saw Miki standing next to me, a grin on her face. Opening my other eye, I backed away just enough to get a good look at her.

She had her hair neatly done up in a bun and the yukata she wore accentuated her feminine figure. Some hair bounced around on her forehead and her grin just added to the alluring effect that she was having on me.

"You look... just..." The words couldn't form in my throat.

In typical Miki fashion, she smacked me in the arm. "Hey, don't get all lovey-dovey on me, now."

Words formed. "You look beautiful."

She smacked me again, her cheeks red. "I said don't get all lovey-dovey." She turned her head away and mumbled, "Thank you."

"You know, you're cute when you're embarrassed," I said, jokingly. It was kind of cute though, since she was extremely tomboyish.

"Yeah, yeah."

I could have stared at her for hours, but my staring lasted a mere five seconds.

"Don't get any ideas," Suzu said as she came into my field of view. She was wearing a yukata, too. It would be a surprise if someone didn't hit on her. "It's not like she asked you out on a date."

_So she sent the letter._

I groaned and Miki chuckled at my groaning.

"Come on," Miki said, tugging at my arm. "They've got games and stuff out there."

The three of us strolled out of the dorm and onto the grounds, which were littered with stalls that seemed to just pop up overnight. Suzu insisted that the first thing we got was food. There were plenty of food stalls, so the three of us split up to find food we wanted.

I made my way through the stalls. There were plenty of noodle stalls, but eventually, I happened upon an American cuisine stall. 'American cuisine' can be synonymous with 'fast food,' but that wasn't the case with this stall. It had fast food, but it also had bacon, barbeque chicken, Philly cheesesteaks, and the like.

Walking away from the stall with a hefty amount of bacon was a happy man, who was me. I also got barbeque chicken breast. Since it was an American cuisine stand, only forks were given. Eating such food with chopsticks would be quite the feat.

Suzu, Miki, and I were to meet back up at the gardens, so I sat at one of the benches there and started stuffing my face with bacon. It was chewy bacon, adding to my pleasure since chewy bacon is the best bacon.

"So, you found American food."

My eyes darted to my left, Miki and Suzu coming into view. Suzu had two bowls of noodles and Miki had a plate of sushi. I quickly had to avert my eyes from Miki, lest I started staring. The girls sat on the bench, Miki sitting next to me.

"Yeah, I did," I said.

Miki grabbed a strip of my bacon and stuck an end into her mouth, biting off a piece. She chewed it and then shoved the rest in her mouth, giving me a thumbs up.

"That was good," she said after she swallowed the delectable piece of meat.

"Bacon's always good, even the Canadian excuse for bacon." Canadian bacon was far too much like a slice of ham, but it was still bacon.

The three of us ate in relative silence. Unsurprisingly, the second bowl of noodles that Suzu carried was for Miki, who slurped those up quickly. My bacon didn't last long, nor did the chicken. The barbeque sauce was really good, and I contemplated getting more, but my stomach protested otherwise.

Once the three of us were done, we set off in search of the games. It was about one-thirty then, and Suzu led us to one of those games that require you to hit topple all of the bottles with a ball. Miki and I watched as Suzu tried her hand at the game.

She wound up and launched the first ball at the bottles, but she overshot and missed horribly. The second throw was horribly underpowered, the ball barely traveling near the bottles. The third and final ball nearly hit the guy working the stall in the face. Suzu gave up and blamed her screw-ups on me.

"Unsurprisingly," I said as we walked to another game. "It's my fault."

"You're damn right it is!" Suzu said. "I know you were eyeballing me up, wanting me to throw your balls like that!"

Laughter welled up inside both Miki and myself, and we couldn't contain it. The two of us were laughing really hard, causing Suzu to hit the both of us with her yukata's sleeve. Once we stopped laughing, we continued on, a quirky grin on our faces. Suzu had a slight frown the whole time.

The second game was one of those basketball games, where you have to get so many baskets in a given time limit. All three of us participated, and as the clock started, we started chucking. Miki was shooting one-handed, for obvious reasons. She didn't make too many baskets given her disadvantage. Suzu and I didn't do well either, since I was absolute crap at basketball and Suzu didn't seem like she knew how to shoot a basketball.

Suzu didn't blame me for her misfortune that time and we took a break from the games, opting to just walk around and occasionally get a snack. The whole time, my eyes kept making their way back to Miki. Suzu noticed a couple times and hit me each time.

One thing I hadn't noticed at first was the amount of bamboo trees lining the walkway. They weren't planted, or I would have noticed them a long time ago, rather in planters of sorts.

"Why are there so many bamboo trees?" I asked when I noticed them.

Suzu groaned. "Americans..."

Miki ignored her. "They're for wishes. During Tanabata, you write a wish on wish paper and hang it on a tree."

"Wish paper?" I asked.

"Look," she said, pointing at one of the trees.

Pentagonal pieces of paper hung from string on nubs and branches of the tree, all with writing on them. Though all in Japanese, I was able to read them. One was about having good handwriting, another was about finding true love, and a third was about finding a good job.

"Here," Miki said, handing me a piece of the paper. There was a stack at one of the nearby stalls. "Make a wish." She also handed me a pencil, likely from the stall.

I thought long and hard about what to wish for. One thing that really bugged me was what Louis said before he left Sendai Station.

"_Try to let go."_

I figured that what he said was something that made sense to wish for, even though I had no idea what he meant and the whole wishing thing seemed unlikely to work. I placed the paper against one of the stalls. In Japanese, I wrote 'I wish to be able to let go.'

"Now what?" I asked Miki as I turned back to her.

"Hang it up," she replied, pointing to another tree. I walked over to one of the bamboo trees and hung the piece of paper on a branch.

"I don't think it'll work," I said.

Miki shrugged. "It's a tradition."

We continued onto another game stall, Suzu still ridiculing me for not knowing about the wishing aspect of Tanabata. She acted like I spoke downright blasphemy, which wasn't very surprising. We didn't do well at that game either, which was similar to the first stall we went to.

For no reason, I looked up at the school roof and saw Kenji up there, looking through a pair of binoculars. He wasn't lying when he said he was doing reconnaissance work, though it left me wonder who he was watching.

The three of us kept walking, Miki getting closer and closer to me. Suzu was grumbling about being unable to win, a very Shizune-like thing to do. _Shizune and Suzu playing a board game would be one interesting thing to see,_ I thought.

We passed through a crowd and ran into a familiar couple, one half Master of Romance, one half Fastest Thing on No Legs. Both were holding hands.

"Hey, guys!" Hisao said when he saw us. He was wearing a similar getup as I was.

"Hello!" Emi exclaimed, her energy rippling through our trio, possibly recharging Suzu. Like my two companions, the track star was wearing a yukata.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing much, just playing the games and such. You?"

By then, Miki, Suzu, and Emi had gotten caught up in their own conversation, Emi's hand breaking off from Hisao's.

"Same. Suzu's blaming me for losing every time," I said.

Hisao laughed. "That's kind of funny."

"Kinda, sorta."

"Hey, why are you with them anyway? You're not dating either of them."

"I know, but we're friends. Besides, I got this letter that instructed me to be in the girls' common area at noon. I think Miki sent it."

Hisao's eyes widened. "Ah, I see. Well, we need to find Rin, so I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, see you."

Hisao got Emi's attention, reminding her they had to find the airheaded artist. Once Emi said her farewells, the two walked off in search of Rin. Suzu and Miki rejoined me, Miki getting closer once more, and we searched for another game.

* * *

"Dammit Suzu."

I kept saying that as Miki and I walked together. Suzu had fallen asleep in the middle of the last game we played, so I had to carry her around. She wasn't heavy, but she was far from light. Miki laughed at the fact that Suzu was being carried around by me. It wasn't a pleasing deed for me, but it had to be done.

Night was starting to set in, the three of us having walked throughout the school, down into the town, and back. As we walked, Miki pointed out another game booth, one we apparently passed up. It was another ball-throwing game, but Miki seemed interested in the prizes it had.

"I'm going to get that," she mumbled as she looked at a stuffed animal. It was a cutesy penguin, something that didn't match up with Miki's personality.

She purchased three balls and picked the first one up. She lobbed it, smacking one of the bottles. The guy working the stall replaced it and Miki tossed again, missing completely. She picked up the last ball and launched it, knocking over a few bottles, but not all of them.

"Dammit!" she said, stomping her feet. She really wanted that penguin.

I walked over to a nearby bench and set Suzu down. Walking back to the stall, I purchased three balls. I took the first ball and tossed it, striking a few bottles, but not all. The guy replaced the bottles.

"Alright," I said as the second ball entered my hand.

Raising the ball, my hand flung it, knocking over a couple. _Dammit._

The bottles were replaced a second time and the third ball entered my hand. Feeling it up, my eyes locked onto the bottles, my mind focused on nothing but them. My lungs expunged some stale air and inhaled some fresh air. My arm lurched back and then shot forward, my hand letting the round missile go. The ball smacked into the bottles, knocking all but one over. The remaining one was tipping and quickly fell over.

"Which prize do you want?" the guy asked.

"The penguin," I said, pointing to the one Miki was looking at.

The guy let out a laugh as he grabbed the penguin and handed it to me. "Kids these days."

I turned to Miki, who had wide eyes, and gave her the penguin.

"This is... for me?" she asked. I nodded and she snatched it up. "Thank you!"

_This is very unlike her,_ I thought as I walked back to Suzu and picked her up.

"Think we should go back to the dorms now?" I asked Miki.

"What? The fireworks are about to start."

_There are fireworks for this festival, too?_

"Alright, where do you want to go, then?"

"How about the gardens?"

I nodded and we walked to the gardens between the dorms and the school. There were a few trees and Miki sat next to one. I set Suzu down on a nearby bench and sat next to Miki just as the fireworks went off from the town below. It was a reversal of sorts, since I was in the town during the June festival, which had its fireworks launched from the school. For Tanabata, I was at the school and the fireworks were being launched from the town.

Rain started to drizzle down, and since I liked the rain, the atmosphere became much more relaxed. Suzu was sleeping, unable to insult me or cause any other kinds of inconvenience, and Miki was oddly silent, hypnotized by the fireworks.

"You know," I said. "You should come to the States on the Fourth of July."

Miki broke from her trance. "Why should I?"

"You like these fireworks, right?" She nodded. "Like everything in America, the fireworks are bigger."

She shrugged. "I don't know."

I returned the shrug. "Suit yourself."

Neither of us spoke another word as the fireworks continued to explode, projecting their bright streaks of color onto the two of us. Several times I caught myself staring at Miki, the fireworks' light illuminating her face. The light didn't really factor into my staring, since Miki was extremely attractive without it. She was focused on the fireworks the whole time, not noticing me staring.

_Didn't the same thing happen in June? _I thought, remembering the events of the June festival.

After a few more minutes, the fireworks stopped and the rain started to pick up. The tree's leaves shielded us from the precipitation, so we weren't wet. I got to my feet and held out a hand to Miki. She took my hand and I pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks," she said. I nodded and we started to walk back to the dorms.

"Wait," I said after a few steps. "Are we forgetting something?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Unless..." Miki had a dumbfounded expression wash over her face. "Suzu."

I clapped my hands after failing to snap my fingers. "Well, damn."

Spinning on my heel, I walked to the bench that Suzu was sleeping on. She was fairly wet, having sat out in the rain for at least ten minutes. A pang of guilt struck me for forgetting the narcoleptic out in the rain, even though she would have done the same to me on purpose.

Suzu's decently weighted body got scooped up, my arms lifting her from beneath like a bulldozer or some other construction vehicle, and I walked back to Miki. The rain was really coming down, causing me to become doubly wet from carrying the very wet Suzu and being assaulted by the rain. Miki and I started to jog to the girls' dorm, neither of us wishing to become soaked, though Suzu was already soaked. I had to be careful since Suzu was in my arms, especially when climbing the stairs to the dorms, but we reached the dorm in no time.

Miki threw open the door and my foot caught it, allowing me to enter as well. There were a couple girls in the common area as we walked past, though no one gave me any strange looks for carrying Suzu. Her sudden bouts of sleepiness must have been extremely well-known.

We walked up to the two hundreds and Miki led me to Suzu's room. It was next to Miki's room and the door was unlocked, so I just walked in after Miki opened the door and set Suzu on her bed.

"Should we just leave her like that?" I asked Miki when I left Suzu's room.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"In the wet yukata."

Miki's eyes widened. "Oh my god, she was right! You want to see her naked, huh?"

Immediately, my head convulsed sideways. "NO! No, I don't! I was just wond-"

Miki held up her stump, the penguin still in her hand and her trademark grin sliding across her face. "I'm just messing with you."

A grin started to appear on my face as well. My eyes traveled up and down her head, her wet hair plastered together. I suddenly had the urge to ask her a question that could destroy relationships.

"Hey Miki," I said, the grin never leaving my face.

"Hmm?"

"You want to go on a date sometime?"

The grin on her face disappeared as she gave me a borderline-appalled look. Failure was imminent, as was the feeling that I had destroyed our friendship. My head sunk and I was about to tell her to forget my inquiry was ever uttered whenever she tilted my head back up with her hand. She had the penguin held by the inside of her elbow.

"In case you forgot," she said, her grin returning. "This was our first date."

Realization struck me. Miki _did _send me the letter to meet her, just as I suspected after Suzu said she didn't ask me on a date. Then again, Suzu said that Miki didn't ask me on a date.

"Suzu said that you didn't ask me on a date," I said, our faces fairly close.

"She didn't know it was a date."

Her lips curved even higher into a smile and something inside of me wanted to break free and embrace the mischievous girl. That something broke free and my hand brushed a strand of wet hair out of her face and slid down as surprise washed over her.

Impulse and hormones guided my actions that followed. I cupped her chin with my hand and our faces grew near each other. Both of us were nervously breathing, oddly boosting my confidence. Taking her head in both of my hands, I finished pulling Miki's face towards mine, our lips locking in a mouth-to-mouth embrace, her lips soft and inviting. As we kissed, my heart rate quickened, but I paid no mind to it.

After what seemed like forever, Miki pulled away reluctantly and wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I said don't get all lovey-dovey on me, didn't I?" she whispered as she smacked me in the back.

I laughed as my arms wrapped around her. "Well, I guess it's too bad you enjoyed it."

She sighed. "I really enjoyed tonight, by the way."

"I did, too."

We embraced each other for a good minute. A door opened and Miki groaned with mock distress.

"What. The. Hell," a drowsy voice said.

I grinned, not even turning my head. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay Miki?"

She pulled her head back and nodded, a smile on her face. "Talk to you tomorrow."

We let go of each other and I strolled past Suzu, her mouth agape. I turned around before rounding the corner and waved to Miki. She waved back, her smile consistent. My feet carried me down the stairs with a certain air in my step, one I can't really describe. Any melancholic feelings that may have lingered around me were chased away.

I walked out of the girls' dorm and into the boys' dorm, making my way to my room. An involuntary grin was plastered on my face the whole way to my room and even as I fell asleep. It felt as though nothing could bring me down.

* * *

**[AN: I'm absolutely horrible with romantic scenes. Just saying.**

**I can't think of anything much to put in this chapter's AN, since there's not much to say.**

**Chapter twenty-one wasn't anything I was proud of, though. (I will continue to say that.)**

**Remember to review, even if it just has suggestions or whatever. Also, PM me if you want. Doesn't matter.**

**Stay classy, my friends.]**

**The brackets mean that that was the original AN. The end of Tanabata was changed, and as such, this is the first chapter I've actually changed after uploading, typos and small things aside. I hope this is an improvement, but if not, I maintain this version as the final version of chapter twenty-two.**


	23. Unusual Proposal

Chapter Twenty-Three: Unusual Proposal

_A teenage boy and his adult sister are walking together down a city street. Cars leisurely pass by and clouds are gradually darkening the September skies._

"_Looks like it's gonna rain," the boy observes._

"_It's supposed to," his sister replies. "When I checked the weather, it said the rain should come anytime now."_

_The boy coughs. "I wish it could rain all the time."_

"_I know you do, but that wouldn't be a good thing."_

_The boy shrugs with a sigh. "I know."_

_The boy gets lightly tapped on the arm by his sister. "You look down in the dumps, bro."_

"_You always say I look like that."_

"_Because you do. How many times do I need to tell you to get a girlfriend?"_

"_Like that's gonna help," the boy says with a scoff. "Shkol'nitsy yavlyayutsya khlopot, tak ili inache." (High school girls are a hassle, anyway.)_

"_Und wie würden Sie wissen? You've never had a girlfriend." (And how would you know?)_

_The boy shrugs. "Well, you certainly seemed to give your boyfriends quite a bit of hell ."_

_His sister's mouth drops. "Arschloch! Vy ne govorite, chto o vashley sestre! Especially to her!" (Asshole! You don't say that about your sister!)_

_The boy grins mischievously. "It's not an asshole-ish thing to say if you know it's true."_

_She laughs. "Fick dich, Adolf, auch wenn ich weiß, es ist wahr." (Fuck you, Adolf, even though I know it's true.)_

_Adolf sighs. "It's not just you though, sis. It's my friends, too. They've had issues with their girlfriends and crap. Kuhscheiße I don't wanna deal with."_

_His sister raises her arm and places her hand on his head, ruffling his medium-length hair. "You're only in eleventh grade, my little dictator. You still have lots of time."_

_Adolf frowns. "Sure doesn't feel like it when you're rushing me like that. And I told you not to call me that, Emily."_

_Emily grunts. "Calling me by my full name now, huh? Someone's pissed." Adolf snorts. "Listen, kiddo, I'm only pushing you because you're not going to get a girlfriend by just sitting on your ass or hanging out with Louis and the guys. You have to take initiative, grab the bull by the goddamn horns and rub your nutsack on those horns."_

_Adolf cannot help but laugh. "I'm not going to teabag a bull, dummkopf."_

_Emily waves her arm. "Doesn't matter, you know what I mean. Make the bull your suka, ride it out, all that spaß scheiße." Adolf gives her a critical look. "Look, just promise me you'll actually try to get a girlfriend before you graduate."_

"_Ich verspreche es," Adolf says reluctantly, following a hefty sigh. (I promise.)_

"_Gut."_

_Rain starts to fall and the siblings reach a gray Ford Taurus, Emily reaching into her pocket for car keys. Adolf walks to the passenger side of the Ford and waits for his sister to get into the car and unlock the door. He opens the door when she unlocks it and sits, slightly damp from the rain._

"_So, how's your Japanese coming?" his sister asks as she starts the car._

"_Kore wa yoku okotte iru." (It's going well.)_

"_C'est bien, mais je prefere français sur japonais."_

_The two laugh, neither understanding what the other said. Emily puts her foot down on the gas pedal and the two ride down the street._

* * *

My alarm clock started to ring, trying to wake me up. Unfortunately for it, I was already up for five minutes, opting to just lie there with my eyes closed. The obnoxious ringing was silenced by my fingers, finding the switch to turn it off.

My hands found their way behind my head, comfortably positioning themselves between my skull and the pillow as the events of the night before replayed in my head. It was a euphoric experience, one that I was intoxicated by.

Even the dream that involved my sister didn't make me feel sad. All I really remembered about the dream was Emily's involvement, and something about us walking through Uniontown with dark skies overhead.

My head rolled to the side, facing my alarm clock. The clock gave a time of **9:02 A.M.**, much to my surprise.

_Did I set it this early last night? _I thought. The only logical explanation was that I did, but couldn't remember. Grunting, I brought my body up to sitting position and rubbed away the sleep. The first thing on my agenda was to shower and brush my teeth. Hopping out of bed, I opened the door and made my way to the bathroom. A couple of suitcases lingered outside of Kenji's room, so I decided to power walk to the showers.

Inside of the bathroom, I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the shower. The warm water ran down my body, not unlike the rain from the night before. Once I cleaned up, I exited the stall and dried off, my clothes being slipped on shortly after. The next thing to do was brush my teeth, and as the sink loitered below, the toothbrush and toothpaste started to do their magic.

After the rinse water was spat out, I looked myself over in the mirror for the first time in a couple weeks. Louis wasn't lying when he said that my facial hair was noticeable, black hairs plastered along my jaw and upper lip. Though I felt them, as the saying goes, seeing is believing and my original statement still stood. The hair would be allowed to grow out some.

Once I was done, I walked back to my room to get a change of clothes, since an old t-shirt and boxers probably wouldn't be acceptable attire to walk around in. Luggage still loitered outside of Kenji's room when I passed it. He was taking quite a bit of things back home, though most of the things in the suitcases were probably maps, graphs, battle plans, and other things needed for his war on feminism.

Glancing out of the window in my room, it became apparent that it was still raining outside. I snatched up a _Grand Theft Auto IV_ graphic tee, a fresh pair of boxers, a pair of jeans, and a jacket. After putting them on, my pills got swallowed and I left my room, only to be met by a looming scarfed figure.

"Sup dude," Kenji said as my door closed.

"Not much Kenji," I replied. "You got a lot of bags."

Kenji nodded. "Yeah, but a man's got to be prepared, right?" I nodded. "Anyway, let's take a walk."

_Why not?_ "Alright, let's."

Kenji started walking and I followed. We passed through the common area and walked out in the rain, though Kenji didn't say a single word.

"Kenji," I said once we stepped out into the rain.

"Huh?" he asked, turning to face me.

"What did you want? You haven't said anything."

He nodded. "Oh, I know."

"Then what the hell are we walking for?"

Kenji grunted. "Fine. Come here." I walked up next to him and we continued walking. "Alright, so I saw you carrying that Suzuki girl last night. What's that about?"

"Suzu? She's narcoleptic. She fell asleep, so I had to carry her."

"You didn't _have_ to, man. That's how they get you, making you _think_ you have to. They use your morals against you, making you think what is actually wrong is right."

I scratched my head, the rain not making it any more wet than it already was. "What the hell do you mean?"

Kenji spun around, his scarf flapping in the light wind. "She tricked you, man."

"Into doing what?"

"Carrying her lazy ass, what else?"

"She fell asleep!"

Kenji waved his hand. "Whatever, man. Narcolepsy is synonymous with lazy. Besides, that Suzuki girl is definitely a feminist sleeper cell."

While it wouldn't be surprising if Suzu was a feminist, I sighed and continued walking. "Kenji, I hope you didn't want to talk about Suzu being a feminist."

Kenji fast-walked to catch up to me. "No, I didn't want to just talk about that. I wanted to ask you how things went down with you and Miki."

"I thought you didn't know Miki."

Kenji took off his glasses and wiped the rainwater off. "I thought I didn't but then I remembered that we had something of an incident a while ago."

I wanted to ask what kind of incident, but it probably wasn't important. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

Kenji replaced his glasses. "Dude, I just told you. How things went down. Did you go down?"

"No I did not, Kenji." His interest in what Miki and I did was extremely unnerving and unusual.

He nodded, fingering his wet scarf. "Good. So no sexual interaction, right?"

"Is kissing sexual to you?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was playing at.

Kenji stopped and his eyes widened. "You _kissed_? What the hell?! This is not good man! You said that she wasn't a feminist, but her initiating a kiss is not good at ALL! She's been playing you man, she really has! Before you know it, she'll shove that stump up your ass and pull out your manhood! I can't believe this. How could you let her kiss you, man?"

Kenji was talking rather fast and loud. He definitely had a reason for being interested, even though his comment about Miki being able to pull my manhood out of my rectum with her stump was highly illogical.

"Who said she kissed me?" I asked, running my hand through my wet hair.

Kenji's eyes widened some more before he relaxed, retaking his pointedly cool demeanor. He lowered his eyebrows and smirked.

"You almost had me there, man," he said, wiping rain off of his forehead. "_Almost_. That's good though. I'm happy for you."

_Happy for me? What? _"Seems like I had you one hundred percent. Why did you want to know anyway?"

"Brothers look out for each other, right? We are brothers-in-arms, so it makes sense that I know what's going on between you and her, you know?"

"I don't follow. It sounds more like an invasion of privacy to me."

Kenji glared at me. "Privacy doesn't matter to the feminists, Adolf. If I was invading your privacy, I would have went in your room, checked your e-mails, ran DNA tests on your underwear, and badgered you for answers that were personal. I'm not doing any of that. Rather, I'm just asking about your obvious relationship with Miki Miura that is bound to become very public."

Kenji actually made sense for once. He wasn't invading my privacy and it wouldn't take long for the news to circulate about the kiss Miki and I had. For some reason, I got the feeling that someone, likely Misha, was watching us at the time of the kiss.

However, it was unlike Kenji to actually care about relationships with women. Hisao and Emi's relationship was unimportant to him on a friend level, but extremely important on an anti-feminism level since he thought Emi was a feminist. Maybe my relationship with Miki was different, but I didn't know how.

"Okay, Kenji," I said. "I understand." _Not entirely._

Kenji nodded with a grin. "Good."

"I still want an actual answer as to why you care," I said, glaring at Kenji.

Kenji shrugged. "In due time."

I groaned, exasperated. "Alright, fine. Why were you on the roof yesterday?"

We had resumed walking, reaching the stairs to the school.

"A mixture of whiskey and recon," Kenji said as we climbed the stairs. "Had to make sure you, Hisao, Sean, and Mikhail weren't walking into any death traps." I didn't know who this Sean character was.

"Uh-huh. Like mines planted in the grass."

Kenji threw up his hands. "You never know man! It could be like Vietnam out there or something."

"If that were the case, I assume we're the United States and the feminists are the Viet Cong."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You do know that means that we'd be forced to pull out due to civil unrest in our homeland and the war would be considered a loss?"

We entered the lobby of the school and Kenji took his glasses off once more. He took a handkerchief or something of the sort out of his pocket and wiped his glasses dry with that.

"Okay, forget Vietnam," Kenji said, replacing his glasses. "The NVA were seriously losing and communism there could have been prevented. How about the Korean War?"

"Assuming we are the United Nations and the feminists are the communists, it's better than Vietnam. However, it's essentially a stalemate, despite being considered a victory."

"Well, the North Koreans have been holed up since, right? So, it's a start. Anyway, I've got some stuff to get, so I'll see you around."

"Alright, see you," I said as Kenji started to walk up the stairs. I had no clue what he would need to get from inside the school. Remembering that I was inside the school, I turned around and left the building.

The rain started to pick up during my trek back to the dorms, as did the wind. Not too many people were walking around in the rain, but those that were usually had a suitcase with them in addition to a raincoat.

I reached the dorms and decided to go into the girls' dorm and have breakfast with Miki, and if need be, Suzu. Inside the dorm, I hung my jacket on a coat rack in the common room and started up the stairs, wishing my hair was dry the whole time. Upon reaching the two hundreds, I beelined to Miki's room and my fist lightly pounded on her door.

"One minute," Miki called. "Suzu, can you get the door?"

"Yeah, sure," Suzu said.

Her footsteps were audible from the hallway and when she opened the door, I smiled widely as she frowned a bit.

"Hi Suzu," I said. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Suzu sighed, slightly perturbed. "No, I guess not. Come on in, then."

"Danke," I said as I walked into the room.

Miki was sitting on her bed in her pajamas, watching TV. Her pajamas consisted of a t-shirt and her underwear. She glanced at me and instantly perked up._ She can't possibly be this happy from seeing me, could she? _I thought as she hopped up and nearly tackled me.

"Ow, mein gott," I grunted as she bear hugged me. Though her punches usually didn't hurt, she was one strong girl nonetheless, meaning I couldn't break free.

"You've got to be kidding me," Suzu grumbled as she squeezed back into the room.

"Why are you here so early?" Miki asked, still bear hugging me. She wasn't constricting my breathing, however.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to go get breakfast," I said, grunting in discomfort. "Can you let me go?"

Miki relented, her cheeks slightly red. "Oh, sorry."

I quickly kissed her on her cheek, causing her to blush even more. "It's alright."

Miki smacked me lightly. "I said don't do that."

She looked away, putting a false pouting face on. She was extremely cute when she showed her inner girly self, however strange it may have been whenever she did so.

Suzu coughed. "You two can go on to sex on the first day of your relationship if you want, but not until I get some grub."

Miki and I gave Suzu cockeyed looks, Miki's arms still wrapped around me. The blue-haired girl was next to Miki's bed, being extremely serious and straightforward.

_Surprised she didn't call me a pervert for once, _I thought.

"Miki," Suzu said, pointing at Miki's legs. "Put some freaking pants on. We both know what Adolf here is capable of."

_There goes that._

I groaned at Suzu and Miki let go of me, reluctantly putting pants on. She put a pair of sweatpants on since they were easier to put on with one hand. Suzu was still in her pajamas, strangely. She wanted to get food and yet she wasn't even dressed for the occasion.

"What about you Suzu, aren't you going to put some clothes on?" I asked.

She lethargically raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You're in your pajamas."

"If I'm going to fall asleep somewhere, I might as well be comfortable, right?" I shrugged with a sideways nod. "Then there's your answer. Since I might fall asleep, I just w-"

She suddenly stopped and fell backwards onto Miki's bed. Almost immediately after she fell back, she started to snore. It was kind of funny that she fell asleep when she mentioned she might fall asleep, so I laughed.

"This happens all the time," Miki said, sitting down at her desk.

"When she mentions falling asleep?" I asked, already well aware of Suzu's proneness to falling sleep.

Miki thought for a second then shook her head. "Nope, this would be the first time _that_ happened."

I let out another laugh and sat on the floor. "So, what now?"

"We eat breakfast," Miki said with a bored shrug. I cocked an eyebrow. "I really don't hope you were suggesting we go into town for breakfast."

"I kind of was."

Miki shook her head. "I have some food in there." She pointed to her mini-fridge. "Hope you don't mind cold pizza."

I stood and walked to the fridge. "I love cold pizza."

After opening the fridge, my hands latched onto the plastic container with pizza inside. Taking a couple pieces out for Miki and myself, I set the container on top of the fridge. Miki stood and took her piece out of my hand, taking a seat on the floor next to her bed. The pizza found its way inside my mouth as my legs propelled me to the window.

"Rain doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon," I said after swallowing some pizza and observing how heavy the rain was. I turned around and sat next to Miki on the floor.

"I think it's part of a typhoon," Miki said as I sat.

I nodded. "So, what should we do?"

Miki turned to me, took a bite of her pizza, and grinned. "Watch some movies?"

I took another bite of pizza and nodded. "Why not?"

* * *

A gunshot rang out, waking me up from my sleep.

_I fell asleep?_ I thought, bewildered. _What time is it?_

There was something weighing me down, preventing me from finding the clock to look at the time. My head turned to the weight and it turned out to be Miki. She had fallen asleep while leaning on me.

Anime was playing on the television, not a movie. It was _Mirai Nikki _and Yukiteru had just shot Fourth's phone, thus killing him. The anime was confusing, but good. The anime, however, had confused me yet again, not due to the plot, but because it was on. I craned my head carefully around to see Suzu watching intently.

"What time is it?" I asked, ignoring the fact that _she_ was up.

"Oh, you're up," Suzu said, surprised. "Hold on, it's getting interesting."

I sighed and closed my eyes, unconsciously stroking Miki's hair. It was silky yet soft. After a few minutes, the episode ended, signified by the ending song, and I opened my eyes. Turning back to Suzu, my question was repeated.

"It's nine," Suzu said, hopping off of Miki's bed.

After Suzu hopped off, I stood, my hand keeping Miki in place. Crouching down, one arm slipped between the backs of her knees and the other underneath her armpits. After being lifted up into the air, Miki was gently set down on her bed and covered with a blanket.

"My, my, such the gentleman," Suzu remarked, leaning on the wall. She didn't have a snide grin on her face, confusing me once more.

"Don't even suggest I'm going to rape her in her sleep," I said, preempting any such accusation.

Suzu threw her hands in the air. "I wasn't going to say anything of the sort."

I was really confused then. "You normally do."

"Well, you're dating her now." She sighed and walked to the desk chair. "There's no real point in saying it anymore, since you have a shot at sleeping with her without committing a crime."

_I guess we are dating,_ I thought. _That's new, but sleeping with her?_

My face reintroduced itself to my palm. "Do not tell me that you think the only reason I'm with her is for that."

Suzu shrugged. "Could be. You've always struck me as that kind of guy, probably because you're American."

"Here we go again. What's so bad about me being American?" Suzu opened her mouth to respond. "You know what? Never mind, I don't care."

She shrugged lazily. "Suit yourself."

_She really knows how to get under my skin._

My jimmies were slightly rustled and I didn't want them to get more rustled. "I'm going to go, alright?"

Suzu nodded. "Be my guest."

"You could be a bit nicer, you know." I was asking the impossible.

"I know. I'll let Miki know you put her in bed and went back to your dorm."

An unintentional smile spread across my face. Suzu, though cold and under my skin as usual, was actually being nice to an extent. I walked to the door and opened it.

"Bye Suzu," I said.

"Goodbye Adolf," she returned, expressionless as she got up and walked to the mini-fridge.

Closing the door behind me, I noticed a couple girls staring at me. Ignoring them, I made my way down the stairs to the common area. Once in the common area, my eyes scrambled around, searching for the coat rack. Numerous girls populated the common area, each giving me odd looks.

Swearing in Russian under my breath, I walked to the coat rack once it was located. After slipping my jacket on, however, someone decided to stop me.

"Adolf-chan!" an unmistakeable bubbly voice called.

"What now, Misha?" I asked, spinning on my heel. _That was a little cold._

Misha was alone, Shizune nowhere in sight. The Drilled One didn't pay attention to my unintentionally cold response.

"I have something to ask you," she replied, her drills playfully bouncing around.

I sighed and leaned on the wall. "Fire away."

"Shicchan and I are going to the beach and Shicchan has a beach house. It's fairly big, so I was wondering if you, Micchan, and Succhan wanted to come with us."

_The beach and a beach house, eh? That's mighty nice of you, Shizune._

"That's not really a question, but sure, I'm game if it's alright with the Council President. You'll have to ask Suzu and Miki, though."

Misha ignored the last sentence and hugged me. "Yay! Adolf-chan, it's going to be so much fun! Swimming and ice cream and volleyball and ice cream! Did I mention ice cream?"

"Twice, actually," I coolly replied. "And Misha?"

"What?" She was clearly confused.

"You still need to ask Suzu and Miki."

Misha quickly let me go. "Right, I will do that in the morning!"

I turned to walk away. "Alright, then, Misha. You do that and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Adolf-chan!"

"Huh?" I didn't even turn around.

"You and Micchan sure do make a cute couple!"

My cheeks felt as though they turned slightly pink even though there was nothing for me to be embarrassed about. I spun around on my heel.

"How did you...?"

Misha was already walking up the stairs, however, laughing as she did so.

_How did she know that we're essentially a couple now? Does she have cameras planted everywhere or something? _

Shaking my head, I cursed Kenji for managing to instill such stupid thoughts in my head. I walked out of the girls' dorm and into the rain before leaving the rain for the boys' dorm. The dorm's common area wasn't crammed, but there were people in it. Haruhiko was watching TV as usual and there was some guy with a baseball cap and an eyepatch sitting next to him who was uncannily familiar.

Unsure of how I knew the eyepatched guy, I disregarded the both of them and made my way up the stairs. Upon reaching my room, I noticed that Kenji's suitcases were gone, then opened my door. I took the jacket off and stripped down to my boxers, putting makeshift pajamas on instead.

_Why did Shizune extend an invitation to the three of us? _I wondered as my butt collided with my bed and the TV flicked on. _There's got to be some sort of motive. Unless Shizune is just being friendly..._

I sighed. "I guess we'll see when the time comes," I mumbled to myself in English.

My thumb started to mash the channel changing buttons on the remote in hopes of finding something to watch. Anime was playing on one channel, so I decided to just watch that since there was nothing better to do.

_I guess I'll do just that and see when the time comes, _I rethought to myself.

* * *

**AN: Pretty boring chapter when compared to twenty-two, huh? Well, this AN has a few things in it.**

**Firstly, if you don't know, I rewrote the ending of chapter twenty-two. Give it a look if you haven't already.**

**Secondly, if a dream is written in present tense and followed by a horizontal line, Adolf won't remember it. Other wise, he'll remember some of it, at least.**

**Thirdly, the way I wrote Kenji was more of an experiment than anything.**

**Finally, I didn't have Adolf and Miki kiss more than once because I don't envision their relationship as being to the point of snogging each other on the first day. They're not like Hisao and Emi, who had sex a couple days after they started dating.**

**As usual, review and all that fun stuff!**


	24. Follow the Train (or Ride It)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Follow the Train (or Ride It)

Whenever Friday rolled around, I was up well before the alarm and already packed. Miki and Suzu agreed to go with the Council and myself to the beach, though Suzu was reluctant to do so. She thought there wasn't a point to go due to the typhoon, but Misha and Miki convinced her that it would be worthwhile.

The suitcases I did pack, a total of two, were by my door, ready to go. Having showered the night before, it seemed as though there wasn't anything to do for a while, bar brushing my teeth and taking my pills. I set off to the bathroom to do the former, and upon returning to my room, the latter occurred. After that, I slipped into some fresh clothes.

With nothing better to do, I left my room and headed down to the common area to see who was there and chat. Playing Xbox was an equally appealing thing to do, had I not packed the console in one of the bags.

In the common area, it occurred to me that my hallway would be empty for a while. Hisao went to Emi's house just the night before and Kenji had been gone since Tuesday, so my departure would make the hallway completely empty. After acknowledging that tidbit of information, I looked at the couch, noticing someone sitting there: the guy with the eyepatch.

_Why do I get the feeling I know this guy? _I thought as I sat down. _He seems so familiar..._

He had short brown hair, the eyepatch wrapping underneath his hair. The feelings of familiarity I got from him were troubling me deeply. He turned to me as the couch accepted my weight in addition to his, my body being to the right of his.

"Hey," he said in Japanese. He was a foreigner for sure. _Says a foreigner._

I nodded. "Hey."

His eye looked me over, almost like it was a scanner and I was a strip of barcode. I shifted, uncomfortable by his gaze.

"Er, I guess you're in class three-two, right?" I asked, trying to divert his attention away from me. My analysis was logical, since he had only one functioning eye. Lilly and Kenji's class was for the blind and partially blind, both of them falling into the respective categories.

His gaze didn't break, much do my displeasure. "Yeah, three-two," he said in English. "You speak English, am I right?"

_English? This guy speaks it? _"My first language. If you're in three-two, I guess it makes sense that you know I'm American."

"Yeah, you arrive and everyone is excited that there's an American at the school," he said, slightly grimacing as he turned back to the TV.

_Thank god he turned away_, I thought. _Wait, he sounded American..._

"Where are you from?" I asked, not wanting to make an ass out of myself by assuming.

"Same as you." He said it with indifference. "Surprised you don't remember me."

_So I _do_ know this guy? Did he live in Uniontown?_

"You know me?"

He nodded, not turning from the TV. "And not just because of your popularity here at Yamaku."

"Care to elaborate?"

He shook his head, his lips slightly curved upwards. "Always so specific. I seriously cannot believe you don't remember me, man. You better be pulling my leg."

"Dude, I may know you, but as of now, I don't know who the hell you are. How do you know who I am?"

He sighed, turning back to me. "Adolf Riese, often called 'Hitler' in school. First line right wing for a couple ice hockey teams and had great chemistry with Louis Markovich on ice. Fluent in Russian, German, and now Japanese. Highly intelligent, but absolute crap with trigonometry and calculus. Despite all of that, couldn't get a girlfriend at all. Got into a car accident and sent here two months later. Now, I'm talking to him and he has a girlfriend."

As he was speaking, my eyes got wider and wider, up until he mentioned my accident. That wasn't something I wanted brought up.

"Okay, so you know basic things about me," I said, somewhat irritated. "That still doesn't mean I know you."

"Maybe this will help you." Mister Eyepatch raised his hands and pulled off the eyepatch. His left eye was a cloudy blue, not unlike both of Lilly's eyes. "Ah, that was somewhat irritating. Know who I am now?" I shook my head. "'Sean Lynch' ring any bells?"

It rang _a_ bell. The name seemed familiar to say the least, though I couldn't remember any interactions with the guy.

"Not really," I said.

"Maybe this will jog your memory." He shuffled a bit and put his hands in front of him. "Think back to late February, alright?"

I nodded as my brain prepared itself. "Okay."

"There was a baseball game. There were two strikes and the fate of the game hinged on that third strike."

I nodded. "So you were batting?"

He shook his head. "No, I was the catcher. We were winning, alright? Batter hits a single and there's a play at the plate. I manage to get the guy at third out, but he gets me sent to the hospital. Remember anything now?"

_Play at the plate?_ Baseball wasn't my forté, but I vaguely remembered something of the sort happening. It was a few weeks before the accident, though the accident wasn't on top of my list of things to remember.

"I sort of remember something like that, but I'm not into baseball."

He grunted, his hands limply falling onto the couch. "Okay, fine. I didn't think you had amnesia. The first half of eighth grade, we hate each other. The second semester rolls around and we start to become friends."

I shrugged. "Alright... and?"

Sean facepalmed then cleared his throat. "'Hey Adolf, I'll take the green gummies.'"

A twinge of pain formed in my head and a stream of memories flowed back to me regarding him, thanks to possibly the dumbest thing ever.

In eighth grade, I used to eat breakfast during homeroom, becoming somewhat infamous for it. I would bring in pancakes, cookies, donuts, cold pizza, and even fruit snacks, all wrapped in plastic and stored in my coat pocket. That wasn't something that went over too well with my classmates, even though the food was wrapped in plastic.

Whenever I'd take the fruit snacks, I never ate the lime flavored ones, usually throwing them away. One day, Sean, who sat next to me, told me he'd take the lime ones. He got them every single day after that. That was only after Sean and I became friends, however.

I let out a small laugh and Sean turned to me, eyebrows raised. "What's so funny?"

"That is quite literally the _stupidest_ thing to regain lost memory from, Sean," I replied, still chuckling. He cocked an eyebrow but remained silent.

_How strange,_ I thought. _My best friend showed up for no real reason last week and one of my old friends attends this school. But how'd I forget about Sean completely? How eerily odd._

"So, what's with the eyepatch?" I asked, remembering he never wore one before. "You want to be a pirate or something?"

Sean shook his head. "I wish. It's why I'm here." He slipped his eyepatch back on.

Why people were at Yamaku was dangerous turf. Asking wasn't a good idea, even if it was an old friend. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that is was about time for me to leave.

I smacked Sean on the leg and stood up. "Tell me some other time, alright?"

Sean nodded and stood up as well. "You do the same," he said as he pulled me into a brohug that was nearly as intense as Louis'.

My fist tapped Sean's back a couple times. "Will do, man. Good to see you again." _Given the circumstances, I don't think it's all that great, though._

We pulled apart and Sean nodded. "Good to see you, too."

He sat back down and I ran up the stairs to grab my bags. Throwing the door open, my eyes quickly locked on to my jacket, as did my hands. It was still raining outside, and even though the rain didn't bother me, the jacket had the potential to come in handy. I walked to my pill bottles and grabbed them, putting them in one of the suitcases before grabbing the suitcases themselves.

Upon returning to the common area, Akio was talking to Sean. Hayashi and I made it to a first-name basis the day before. With Sean distracted, explaining what the bags were for wasn't a concern. It shouldn't have been a problem to tell an old friend that the Student Council had invited me, my girlfriend, and her best friend to the beach in the middle of a typhoon, but it would have taken up precious time. If that bus left without me, I was screwed.

Slipping out of the door, the rain greeted me once more. I ran through the grounds, suitcases in hand, hoping that my shoes had enough traction to prevent any slip-ups. The rain was steady and obstinate, pounding away at me as I neared the gates. Once at the gates, my feet slid as I found refuge underneath the covered bus stop that was populated by my four companions and a couple others.

"About time, Adolf-chan!" Misha loudly said in Japanese as I took position next to Miki in the cramped space. Though she tried to be sneaky, Shizune's signing didn't go by me unnoticed. "You're late!"

"Misha," I said after I gave Miki a quick peck on the cheek. "Tell Shizune that I'm fine since the bus isn't here."

Misha did as requested and translated Shizune's response. "Well, public displays of affection are not allowed!"

My eyes lock onto Shizune's. "School's not in, now is it?"

Misha translated and Shizune glared at me, signing once more to Misha. "Shicchan said that she'll get you good."

Shizune's subsequent facepalm meant that Misha wasn't supposed to translate that.

"I'm glad you told me that, Shizune. I'll be sure to keep an eye out just in case."

Embarrassed, Misha translated. Shizune's response was yet another glare, but no signing was done. Instead, the next person to do anything was Suzu.

"Here's the bus," she said in her usual lazy tone.

Sure enough, the bus pulled up the hill, rain running off of it. The bus turned somewhat slowly, restlessness becoming very tangible at the bus stop. Once it did turn and open the doors, the restlessness was felt in full force as everyone scrambled to board the bus.

Once on the bus, Miki and I obviously sat together, as did Misha and Shizune, also very obvious. Suzu sat alone in the seat in front of Miki and myself, though she certainly didn't seem to mind. It was just more Snoozu room. Our bags were on our laps, or in Suzu's case, on the seat next to her.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked Miki when the bus pulled out.

She shrugged. "No idea. You have anything to watch on your iPod?"

I nodded and reached into one of the bags, pulling out the iPod and its earphones. My hands went to work untangling the earphones and once that was over, the iPod got booted up.

"Whatever you want to watch," I said, handing the iPod to Miki. "I've got a couple movies, quite a bit of English dubbed anime, and several American TV shows."

"Okay," she said, scrolling through the videos. After much deliberation, she settled on watching a few episodes of _South Park_, much to my surprise.

"You know that there aren't Japanese subtitles, right?" I asked, slipping the iPod's wrist strap on and connecting it to the device before retaking the iPod.

"I know, I'll be fine."

I wasn't too convinced, but I handed Miki an earphone regardless. After putting mine in, and plugging the earphones into the iPod, I turned the iPod sideways as the episode started.

* * *

After the hour-long bus ride into the small city outside Yamaku, we went to the city's train station. There was another person who went to the station with us, a girl from my class. All I knew about her was her name, Ritsu Tainaka. She didn't mingle with our group, however, deciding to be a loner.

"The train should be here any minute now," Misha said, somehow managing to be excited about a train.

I sighed and sat on a nearby bench with Miki. The train station we were at was much smaller than the one at Sendai, but the Newspaper Club went to Sendai just to catch a train. I didn't know why, considering they could have just went to the station we were at.

_Some things are forever shrouded in mystery,_ I thought.

The rain pattered on the roof and glass above, an ever-present sound. What seemed like a few minutes passed and a few other sounds entered the equation. The first was the PA system announcing the arrival of the train, the second was the train itself, and the third was Misha.

"TRAIN'S HERE!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. I wouldn't have been surprised if even Shizune heard her.

Suzu, who was napping on the bench, was startled by Misha and jumped off of the bench, landing on her side. Miki and I stifled a few chuckles while Misha broke into a full Misha-laugh. Even Ritsu and Shizune were laughing, though Shizune was laughing as well as a mute could. Suzu scrambled to her feet, swearing.

"I hate you guys," she said, eyebrows slanted.

The train slowed to a stop at the platform and the doors opened. A few people got off of the train, though there weren't many people on the train to begin with. Once the crowd passed, the six of us boarded the train. Like on the bus, Miki and I sat together, Suzu was alone, and the Student Council sat together as well. Ritsu sat behind Miki and myself.

Misha said that Shizune's beach house was near Tokyo, meaning the train ride would take a while. A few hours or more, from what I understood.

I pulled my iPod out of my pocket and motioned to Miki. "Movie?"

She nodded with a grin and I put one an earphone in her ear. After I put one in mine, I turned on the iPod and handed it to Miki so she could pick a movie. She watched _South Park _and laughed at most of the vulgar jokes, so it seemed that she had a better grasp on English than I thought. That, or she thought the faces were funny.

Her deliberations didn't last long. Not even a minute after she started scrolling, she tapped on a movie and handed the iPod back to me. I held it between us sideways as the movie started. As the opening credits started, I recognized the movie instantly: _Beverly Hills Cop. _Miki really liked American movies.

A small, involuntary grin made its way onto my face as we began to watch the movie.

* * *

A few hours and a couple movies later, everyone was oddly asleep. Suzu was to be expected, and Miki probably got sleepy from the movies and resting her head on my shoulder. The Student Council, however, was a surprise.

_Guess that even the Council needs sleep every once in a while,_ I thought.

Whenever Miki fell asleep, I started listening to music. After listening to a bit of music, namely Genesis and Kino, I decided to take the earphones out. Resting my head a little more comfortably on the seat, some vibrations became tangible, as if someone was tapping on the back of the seat.

I was in the aisle seat, so I craned my neck around the side of the seat. Ritsu, who I forgot was even behind us, was tapping on the back of the seat rhythmically.

_It's almost like she's drumming, _I observed. Her eyes darted to me during my thoughts, mild surprise on her face.

"Sorry," she said.

"No, it's fine." I raised my hand and scratched the back of my head. "What are you doing, anyway? It looked like you were drumming."

She sighed and leaned back in her seat. "That's because I was."

"You want to be a drummer or something?"

She shook her head. "No, I _was_ a drummer."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Then what happened?"

She raised her hands, another sigh being made. "Carpal tunnel. That's why I'm at Yamaku, actually."

_Well, damn._

"So, you got carpal tunnel from drumming?" Health issues due to drumming weren't unheard of.

Ritsu nodded, somewhat wistful. "Yeah, I did."

"Well, Phil Collins developed back problems from drumming, but... how long were you drumming?"

"Phil's good, but I like Keith Moon better," she said. "And I've drummed for a while."

_No clue who he is. _"It couldn't possibly be long enough to develop carpal tunnel, though."

She shrugged. "I don't know."

The conversation hit a dead end, so I decided to make smalltalk. "So, where are you going?"

"My friend's beach house near Tokyo." She cracked a smile. "My old band's going to be there."

"Near Tokyo, huh? Your band performing or something?"

"Practicing, actually. Kind of a training camp."

We went silent and she went back to drumming on my seat. She certainly seemed a bit down about the whole thing, giving me the impression that the diagnosis was fairly recent. Yet, she still decided to keep drumming, even though it wasn't a smart thing to do.

The fact she had carpal tunnel should have been obvious. Mutou always handed her notes that were printed out. She barely wrote anything in class, except during tests.

I turned back around in my seat and continued listening to music, the rain very audible on the train's roof.

* * *

The walk from the train station wasn't long, only taking about ten minutes. Ritsu walked with us silently, occasionally staring off into the ocean. She seemed like she would have been a very upbeat girl were it not for the carpal tunnel.

Once we reached Shizune's beach house, which was pretty big, Ritsu continued on her way. She waved goodbye to me, catching me off-guard. She was silent the whole time, then waved to me of all people. I waved back and looked back at the house.

It was, like I said, pretty big. The rain pattered on our heads as we walked up to the house, Shizune taking point. She opened the door and the interior was just as large as the exterior, in a sense. Hard wood floors and carpeting, wide open rooms, fancy furniture, and a big TV. I didn't even feel the urge to go outside, even if a pool was on the patio facing the beach.

"This is... big," I said, somewhat shocked. Shizune didn't come off as a rich girl to me, just a pushy one.

Suzu immediately made her way to the nearest couch and faceplanted on it. "And this is comfy."

Miki shook her head with a grin on her face while Misha laughed. Misha then took us on a tour of the house, Suzu likely not getting the tour until a later date.

"This is the kitchen!" Misha exclaimed, showing it to us for a mere five seconds before moving on to the other rooms. She led us to the bathrooms, the living room, and the dining room, spending barely anytime in them. There were a couple rooms she didn't even show us.

The house was a two-story, so after Misha gave us the tour of the first floor, we went to the second. The second had four bedrooms and a bathroom. Misha and Shizune must have already assigned rooms, since Misha told us which rooms belonged to who. Surprisingly, Miki and I were the ones who were sharing a room.

_Are they trying to set something up?_ I thought when Misha informed the two of us that we were sharing a room. There was only one bed, but it was big enough to accommodate the both of us. _Definitely planning something._

Miki and I exchanged glances, a confused look on both of our faces. Her look was borderline concerned, however.

After Misha was done showing us our room (and widely grinning the whole time), we went back to the first floor. Suzu was passed out on the couch and Shizune was watching TV with closed captioning on. The news seemed to be what interested Shizune, that or the weather forecast.

"Aw, I'm hungry," Misha whined before signing something to Shizune. Shizune signed back and Misha happily nodded before turning to Miki and me. "Are you hungry, too?"

"Sort of," Miki said, rubbing her stomach. I nodded with a shrug.

"Follow me!" Misha happily exclaimed. "Ice cream!"

Suzu suddenly shot up. "Ice cream? Where?"

That was a first. Suzu woke up merely because ice cream was mentioned. Either that or she wasn't really asleep. Miki received a questioning look from me.

She scratched the back of her neck. "Yeah, I forgot you didn't know how much she likes ice cream."

_Surprised I didn't find that out sooner._

Suzu and Misha basically sprinted into the kitchen just to get ice cream. I sighed and took Miki's hand into my own as we walked into the kitchen as well. The kitchen, which Misha barely showed us, was smaller than the living room, but still spacious. The house itself was far too big to pass as a summer home.

Misha threw open the freezer door on the refrigerator and shoved her hand inside of it. She produced a container of chocolate ice cream, which Suzu desperately tried to grab. I wasn't really in the mood for ice cream.

"You want ice cream?" I asked Miki.

Her head shook. "Not really."

I nodded and let go of her hand, walking over to the fridge myself. Miki stood behind me as I opened the door and began looking for something to make. I wasn't a world-class chef, but it seemed like a good idea to make dinner for my girlfriend and myself. That's what boyfriends are supposed to do, right?

I would hold something up and see if Miki wanted it. She kept saying she wasn't in the mood for whatever food I held up, until I found some fish, Pacific trout to be exact.

"I want that," she said, fairly giddy.

_Dammit. _"I can't cook fish all that well."

She snatched the fish out of my hand. "It's alright. I was going to make it anyway."

Miki then tried to take the fish out of the package, only to fail horribly.

"If you can get it out of the packaging."

She grunted. "Please open it," she said, shoving the fish towards me.

The packaged trout entered my hands. I looked around for knives and located a knife rack. The knife sliced through the freezer wrap with ease and I handed the fish back to Miki. The knife was disposed of in the kitchen sink.

"So, you've cooked this before?" I asked as Miki grabbed a pan. She nodded and I looked around.

Misha and Suzu managed to stop fighting and fill two bowls up with ice cream. The two of them were happily chowing down, though Misha kept eating too fast. She would stop, clutch her head, release, go back to eating, and repeat. She didn't seem to understand why brain freezes happened. Suzu must have been a veteran ice cream eater, since she was trucking through the ice cream without a hint of discomfort.

I looked back at Miki. "Well, I'll take our bags to our room. If you're able to handle this without me, of course."

She smacked me. "Of course I can do this."

I nodded and walked out of the kitchen. Miki seemed sure of herself, so arguing was pointless and counterproductive, since any fish cooked by me would likely get us sick. That would be a great way to start a vacation.

Nearing the suitcases, I looked into the living room to see what Shizune was up to. She was looking straight at me and motioned for me to come over. As creepy as it was, as well as disheartening, I complied. Misha wasn't there, though, so communication was going to be an issue.

"So, uh..." I said after walking over, quickly realizing it was futile. "Dammit." I then flicked my head back some and cocked an eyebrow, a movement that I hoped was acceptable as a 'what's up?' kind of thing.

Shizune grabbed a notepad off of the table and a pen. She started writing, unfortunately for me. My Japanese literacy skills weren't great, no matter how much I forced myself to learn. Writing was just as hard.

When she was finished writing, she passed the notepad to me.

**Misha told you which room you were in?**

Amazed I read it with such ease, I took the pen and wrote a simple answer.

Yes.

Shizune retook the notepad and pen and started scribbling once more. She passed it back to me when she was done.

**I take it you like your room?**

She wore a mischievous grin on her face. She was up to something. I took the pen and began my own doodle session.

Love it. Couldn't have asked for a better room.

Shizune's grin didn't disappear as she read my message, making me a little concerned. I thought she was hoping for a frantic and embarrassed response from me, but it seemed like she set a trap and I took the bait. She started writing once more, and once she completed her task, she passed the pad back to me and stood up. She left the room, her grin never faltering. My eyes found their way down to the notepad.

**I'll talk to you later, Adolf. Have fun with Miki tonight. :3**

I tore out the piece of paper and crumpled it up, heaving a sigh. Shizune was really something when she wasn't bound to work. Actually, the fact she was being playful and suggestive scared me. Whatever plans she had weren't good, and she _definitely_ had a motive for putting me in a room with Miki, especially if it had only one bed.

Shizune telling me to 'have fun with Miki' was suspicious as well. Was she suggesting that Miki and I were already ready to consummate our relationship after three days? Furthermore, was she telling me to just have sex with Miki?

_Dammit Shizune,_ I thought. _You and your games..._

After deciding it was best to ignore Shizune, my main priority returned to carrying the luggage up the stairs. Hefting one of my suitcases and all three of Miki's, my trek up the stairs began. The total weight of the luggage wasn't a problem, but the awkward position in which I was walking was. The smart thing to do would've been to just set two bags down and then carry them up on a second trip. However, I was stubborn and continued walking awkwardly.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, my posture improved considerably. The awkward walking was still there, but much less so due to the absence of the stairs. The luggage and I found our way to the room that was designated to me and Miki and I set the luggage on the bed. The bed looked comfortable and inviting, so getting away from it was slightly hard.

Upon returning to the first floor, Suzu met me. She was pointing at my other bag with one hand, a bowl of ice cream in the other.

"Is your Xbox in that bag?" she asked.

"I think so."

"Then hook it up already!"

_I don't see why not. _"Okay, okay. Just give me a second," I said as one of the suitcase's straps slipped into my hand.

No one was in the living room, so there wouldn't be any problems with me setting the Xbox up there. I set the bag down next to the TV and opened it, pulling out all of the cords needed for the Xbox and the console itself.

The console was quickly set up on the entertainment center that the TV was on. Two controllers were produced out of the bag, as well as several games, and I turned the Xbox on. Suzu sat down next to me, still eating the ice cream, as I connected the Xbox to a Wifi signal. It wasn't surprising that there was Wifi in the house.

Once the Xbox was connected to Wifi, I signed in and looked at Suzu, motioning to the games that were laid out.

"Which one do you want to play?" I asked.

Suzu took her final spoonful of ice cream and set the bowl on the table behind us. She picked up the games and started looking through them. She stopped on _Battlefield: Bad Company 2_.

"This one," she said, shoving the case to me.

"You can put it in yourself, you know."

With an annoyed sigh, the narcoleptic girl opened the disc tray and the _Battlefield _case. Taking the _Bad Company 2_ disc out, she put it into the disc tray and closed the tray. I started up the game and reached into my bag, pulling a headset out.

"You want to play multiplayer or the campaign?" I asked.

"Mutliplayer," she said with finality.

I nodded and started searching for a multiplayer game after reaching the main menu. As it was searching, someone whistled. I turned my head to see Miki, who motioned to me. Handing the controller to Suzu, my hands pushed off of the floor to get me standing.

Miki led me back to the kitchen, where two platefuls of food were set out on the kitchen table, forks beside them. There was cooked trout, some curry, and, oddly, applesauce. Misha and Shizune were nowhere to be seen, meaning they likely went upstairs or something.

"Looks good," I said.

Miki grinned. "I would have made a Kraft Dinner, but this seemed better."

_Kraft Dinner? _I wondered.

We sat next to each other and started to eat. The trout was really good, some of the best I'd ever eaten. The curry wasn't too bad and the applesauce was smooth. Once we were both done, I thanked Miki for dinner.

She leaned in close to me and we kissed, her lips as soft as they were during Tanabata. They were possibly even more inviting, to be honest, but she quickly broke off and grinned.

"You get to clean up," she whispered. She gave me a quick kiss before standing and walking to the living room, her long hair bouncing behind her. Grunting, I got to my feet.

_Should've expected this,_ I thought. _Then again, she can't really do it._

Looking around, it turned out that there wasn't too much to clean. Miki barely dirtied anything, so the work load was light. At the sink, my hand flicked the hot water on and my other hand squeezed some dish soap in. It wouldn't take too long to clean the dishes and wipe down the counters, so I began.

The dishes were fairly easy to clean, but a couple required some elbow grease. Luckily, I had acquired some shortly before washing the dishes. It was by the headlight fluid, come to think of it.

There was no point in wiping down the counters, but I did. Once I finished, I walked back to the living room. The Student Council had returned and Miki was sitting on the couch with them. Suzu was on the floor, immersed in the game.

"Oh come on! You couldn't have shot me from there, idiot! You're cheating!" Suzu shouted.

"Dude, what's that guy saying?" a guy said in English. The other players' voices were being projected through the TV speakers.

"I think it's a chick," another said.

"Dude, a chick? That's hot."

Suzu ran over snowy roads and got sniped by a guy with an M95.

"Goddammit! That's bullshit!" Suzu shouted in Japanese.

"I really wish I knew what they were saying," the first guy said in English.

"Speak English, ya damn Arab," a new guy with a thick southern accent said. He was one to talk.

Suzu got killed again whenever she respawned. She nearly threw the controller, but controlled herself and handed it to me instead. It'd be funny to see her play _Call of Duty_.

I put the headset on and sat down while Suzu stood and retreated to the couch with Miki. I respawned with an AUG and an M1911. It was Conquest and we were the Americans, who were somehow winning given Suzu's poor performance.

Throughout the rest of the game, I was on a killing spree. Several times my teammates commented on 'my' newly found ability. I informed them several times that Suzu was a noob who decided to play. They asked what language she spoke in, but didn't express too much surprise when they found out it was Japanese.

Once the game finished, with me being at the top of the leaderboard, I dashboarded and started up _Minecraft._

"Who wants to play?" I asked.

Misha and Suzu both jumped up, even though Suzu was raging not even ten minutes earlier. I shook my head in disbelief and stood. Suzu and Misha converged onto the controllers as I sat next to Miki and Shizune.

_Maybe this won't be so bad, despite the typhoon, _I thought as Miki rested her head on my shoulder. I glanced at Shizune and she gave me her mischievous smile. My eyebrows slanted into a glare and she just smirked. She really liked to challenge people.

_Still, maybe it won't be so bad._

* * *

**AN: So, it took me a while to type up this chapter.**

**I'm currently debating whether or not Ritsu and her band should make an appearance in full. As for the whole Sean ordeal, it's far too complicated to explain in an author's note, though the eighth-grade issue is based on real events. The stupid way that Adolf regained that part of his memory was intentional, by the way. **

**If Shizune appears out of character, I apologize.**

**I keep saying it, but I really want to take a break. The only thing stopping me is my desire to keep writing. I'm likely going to slow down in the writing process much more anyway, since I go back to school in a week and I'm also job hunting. Then, provided I find a job, late September will be almost devoid of updates (GTA V!).**

**If you don't know, the Kino mention in this chapter is the Soviet rock band, not that British band. Also, there are a couple references in this chapter. Cookies to those who get them.**

**Anyway, review, follow, favorite, whatever you want to do. I'll be working diligently on the next chapter as well as getting in my "last week of summer laziness."**

_**Jikai made ni, watashi no yūjin.**_** (Until next time, my friends.)**


	25. Medical Inconsistencies

Chapter Twenty-Five: Medical Inconsistencies

"No! Not another creeper!"

"Don't worry Succhan! I've got your stuff!"

Misha and Suzu were enjoying themselves in _Minecraft. _They were two of the worst builders I'd ever seen, yet they managed to survive fairly well, even though creepers managed to kill Suzu quite often. Miki was barking orders at the two and Shizune was actually interested in what they were doing.

That lasted up until around midnight, when everyone got tired enough to retire to bed. After we all brushed our teeth on the second floor, Shizune and Misha walked into their rooms while Suzu followed Miki and me. I opened the door to the room Miki and I were to share and the three of us walked in. Suzu noticed my presence in the room after turning the light on and immediately cocked an eyebrow.

"What are you doing in here?" she asked. "Giving Miki a kiss goodnight or something? How romantic."

"No," I said. "This is also my room."

Suzu scoffed. "Yeah, nice try, loverboy."

"It's actually _our_ room," Miki chimed in, motioning to herself and me.

Suzu went to laugh, but she stopped and her widened quickly. "Are you serious?"

Miki and I nodded. "That's what I was going to say," I said. _I get the feeling she's not going to take this well._

"No! That's just... NO! You're going to rape her, I know it!" Suzu's old self had returned. Apparently, her acceptance of the fact that I was dating Miki was just tossed in the toilet and flushed.

Miki huffed in annoyance while my face and my palm reintroduced themselves. "Suzu, why am I going to rape her? I thought we discussed this."

"I don't care!" Suzu said. "You'll rape her because you're a horny guy! I can tell! Horny American guys are the worst!"

_And here we go again with the stereotyping. I doubt she's met any Americans besides myself._

"Suzu," Miki said, placing her hand on the distraught girl's shoulder. "It isn't rape if I consent to it." She was grinning the whole time she said that.

_She's playing along. Didn't expect that. Unless she actually wants that... _I gulped, nervous with that thought.

Suzu backed up, fear washing over her face. "No... Don't tell me..."

"Don't tell you what?" Miki asked.

"He's brainwashed you, hasn't he? That's exactly what it is, I know it!" Suzu stomped over to me and started punching me in the stomach. "Damn you! Damn you to hell, pig!"

Though her punches were discomforting, one hand was brought up to my mouth as a yawn escaped me, my other hand grabbing Suzu by the wrist. She looked at me, somewhat surprised, and stomped on my foot.

"Get off of me! I don't want to be a part of your threesome or harem or whatever the hell it is!"

Grabbing Suzu's arms and leading her to the door, I spun her around and pushed her out into the hallway. "Guten nacht, Suzu."

"Don't start speaking German, you damn Fascist pervert! You were about to put my hand on your crotch!"

Sighing, my hands slowly pushed the door closed. "Guten nacht, Suzu," I repeated as the door closed, annoyance tinging my voice. Were it a week before, her accusations wouldn't have been that annoying.

"Don't worry Miki! I'll make sure he doesn't try to-" There was a sudden thud and I turned to Miki, cocking an eyebrow.

"Did she fall asleep again?" I asked.

Miki shrugged. "Most likely. I don't think she'd just fall on purpose."

Cracking the door open, Suzu's unconscious body was the first sight to befall my eyes. The door opened completely and I walked over to her room's door to open it and flick on the light. After cracking it some and returning to Suzu, I bent over and slid my arms underneath her body with a sigh.

"I'll take her to her room." Miki gave me a nod and I heaved Suzu up into the air without much effort. Her lightness still surprised me.

_I wonder how she can eat so much, yet stay so thin and lightweight. I know girls who would kill just to be like that. Come to think of it, who doesn't know a girl like that?_

Pushing the rest of the door open with my foot, Suzu was carried to her bed by me. Her luggage was already in the room, likely the Student Council's doing. I didn't carry the luggage up and Suzu didn't know which room was hers, so it seemed only logical. Suzu's bed was a comfortable-looking full-size, though it didn't look as comfortable as the one I got.

After setting Suzu down on the bed, my retreat was made, her door was closed behind me and the light off. I walked back into my room and shut the door, only to see Miki in her bra and panties. It was certainly a sight I didn't want to miss. She noticed my reentry a little slowly, and when she looked up, she merely nodded at me.

"You didn't throw her out the window, did you?" she asked, placing her hand and stump on her hips.

I shook my head, managing to ignore the bounce her breasts had. "No, but I can't be too sure she'd do the same for me."

Miki bent over next to her bag and pulled out some clothes. "You're sure about that?"

My head bounced up and down as I started to strip. "Positive."

"Well then..." Miki pulled a tanktop over her head. "Do you sleep in just your boxers?"

A shirt from my bag was pulled on. "I'm not now, now am I?"

"You're not asleep."

_Dammit, she's got me there._ "Well, I don't plan on it. Besides, you asked me before. Didn't I say I wear just my boxers to bed sometimes?"

She nodded after some thought. "Yeah, when you were sick."

Miki tossed up the bed sheets and slid under the covers. After turning the light off, I got in bed with her. Miki merely yawned and turned to me, a sleepy grin on her face.

"Night," she whispered into my ear. I went to respond, but she was already out like a light, despite sleeping on the train.

"Night," I mumbled for no reason.

I rolled onto my side to get comfortable, and Miki somehow latched her right arm around my waist when I did so. Despite getting the feeling that it should be the other way around, my body managed to become comfortable in the position. Once my eyes closed, my expectation was sleep, however, that wasn't the outcome.

I lied in bed with my eyes closed for what seemed like forever, though it may have only been half-an-hour. My brain refused to go into standby mode, so after another fifteen minutes, I reluctantly got out of bed, carefully removing Miki's arm from my waist. A walk seemed like it could help me sleep, so I slipped on a pair of socks, shorts, and my jacket.

After walking to the first floor and locating my shoes, I made my way to the back door, where the pool was. It seemed pointless to have a pool at a beach, but it wasn't my place to complain or assist in home construction. My hands pushed the sliding door open slowly, that way no one woke up. After opening the door, walking out, and slowly closing the door, my jacket's hood got flipped on my head and I began to walk on the beach.

The sand was wet, as is expected during a rainstorm. The only experience with any storms similar to a typhoon I had, specifically a hurricane, was the leftover rain that went north. At Yamaku, the winds were light since it was farther north, but the winds at the beach house were stronger due to being farther south. It was the same thing back home, since only rain and light wind went to western Pennsylvania.

The wind had gotten stronger since we arrived at the beach house, pushing my hood off as I walked across the beach. After pulling it on only for it to get pushed back off, I gave up and let my head get wet. My leg hairs were plastered onto my leg due to the rain, but it didn't bother me. What did bother me was my inability to sleep.

There was a rock wall on one end of the beach, a few rocks protruding to act as a roof. I was already walking to it, so I decided to sit on one of the rocks. After I did, numerous thoughts ran through my head, some about my inability to sleep, others about other things.

My inability to sleep couldn't have been caused by sleeping in the same bed as Miki, and if it was, there was something wrong with me. Even more troubling was the fact that I didn't get any sleep on the bus or the train and yet sleep evaded me, while the others, barring Suzu, were able to drift off.

My eyes drifted to the ocean during my thoughts. They were rough because of the typhoon, but the typhoon wasn't powerful enough to make huge waves. For the most part, the waves still looked peaceful.

_Emily would have liked this,_ I thought. _Sitting on the beach and watching the ocean..._

My desire for sleep was strong, but not stronger than the feelings of sorrow I received from those thoughts. Any time I thought of my sister since arriving at Yamaku, I felt sad, especially after talking with Hanako in the middle of June. It was troubling, since Emily's memory didn't bother me that much in the hospital.

_Maybe I need a therap-_

I cut off my thoughts, remembering that therapy was a large part of my life as a child. Mental therapy was a joke, since all it did was suppress your feelings and, sometimes, your memories. Eventually, they would resurface and wreck havoc on your psyche, and it was only a matter of time before it happened to me.

Swearing in four languages, I got off of the rock and started to walk back to the beach house. Taking a walk didn't make me sleepy, it only made me upset and restless. The rain picked up, but my speed didn't change.

Once I made it back to the house, my shoes got slipped off at the door and my hands slowly pried the door open. After entering and slowly closing the door, I recalled Misha's tour and made my way to the laundry room. It was close to the kitchen and my jacket got hung up in there.

After taking care of that, I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, sleep having evaded me and my mood rather sour. Thanks to my sour mood, my mind raced for more things that bothered me, notably why I was even in Japan.

Though I wasn't against my presence in Japan, the reasons for which I got shipped to Yamaku were dubious. A minor arrhythmia alone wasn't enough to send me to Japan, so the doctors listed every disorder I had.

Lupus' symptoms hadn't shown up in me, and since I only carried the genes for it, it may never present itself. My arthritis wasn't much of a concern, since it rarely bothered me, and my hernia wasn't that much of a concern either. Best of all, from what I understood, Yamaku didn't accept students with mental disorders, which I had plenty of. Either they didn't know about my mental state, which was unlikely since the Nurse had my medical records, or they didn't accept students with _only_ mental disorders.

My analysis went full-circle and wound up at the arrhythmia. I never had a heart attack, let alone a heart murmur. Hockey kept me in my peak physical condition, even though two months of my life was spent in a hospital bed, and track helped with that even more. Nothing added up and I started to feel like a detective, getting to the bottom of some case.

Sleep was definitely impossible, so I sighed and sat on the floor. I turned on the TV and raised my hand, my finger grazing the power button of the Xbox. With nothing better to do, I started to play _Minecraft_, hoping that it would help me relax and cool off.

* * *

Sleep turned into Solid Sleep or Sleep Snake over the next three days. I explained to Miki my inability to sleep whenever she found me playing Xbox at eight in the morning on Saturday. Insomnia was her guess, though she hit me just in case I found her repulsive.

Since it was still raining, Sunday and Monday were spent playing Xbox and board games. Monday, I got Shizune and Suzu to agree to play each other in _Call of Duty_, but they didn't do it that night, instead planning it for the next day.

Monday night, however, was when the typhoon's rain started to let up and the first time I got any sleep in three days. As soon as I got into bed with Miki, my eyes felt heavy and I didn't drift into unconsciousness, I slid and fell into it, landing flat on my ass.

Despite my bitterness from the walk on the beach, it wasn't outward bitterness. It was all internal and didn't affect my interactions with anyone. They couldn't tell that I was bitter at all.

Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling wonderful. Miki wasn't next to me when consciousness came back to me, however. The clock next to the bed read **10:27 A.M.**, so I stretched and got out of bed, making my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. The sleep was reinvigorating, that was certain.

I shuffled down the stairs, the scents of tea and pancakes reaching my nostrils. A few other scents were mixed in, but they weren't familiar scents. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs and walking to the living room, Misha nearly barreled into me and Suzu was asleep on the couch.

"About time you got up Adolf-chan!" Misha said, her voice at its usual volume. "Your breakfast is going to get cold!"

My mouth opened to reply, but Misha grabbed hold of my arm and dragged me into the kitchen. Miki and Shizune were sitting at the table. Miki laughed at the sight of Misha pulling me around. Misha let go of me once she dragged me to the table where a bowl of rice, a plate with pancakes, and a cup of tea awaited me.

Shizune and Miki stood as I sat. "Where are you guys going?" I asked.

Miki playfully tapped me on the head and Misha was the one to answer. "Adolf-chan! Whenever you're done eating, change into your swimsuit and come outside!"

She laughed as the trio walked away, leaving me to eat breakfast. I wondered who made it, since it was a Japanese- and Western-style breakfast. Despite such a trivial thing, my stomach growled, prompting me to start eating. Rice wasn't my thing, but it was downed just as quickly as the pancakes.

Once the food was in my stomach and the dishes cleaned, I walked back up to my room. The typhoon actually made me think it was pointless to pack a pair of swimming trunks, but I did anyway. After rummaging through my clothes, my hands found the prize, a pair of green swimming trunks.

My best guess was that we were going to swim in the pool or something. After dropping all of my clothes and slipping the swimsuit on, I walked down the stairs, bumping into Suzu.

"Watch it," she growled.

I let out a single 'ha' as I continued, just to get on her nerves. She grunted and continued as well. I walked to the back door to see the other three out next to the pool. Since it wasn't nighttime, my hands didn't have to restrain themselves in opening the door, allowing me to just slide it open. Leaving the door open, I stepped outside.

Misha and Shizune were wearing two-pieces, their breasts firmly cupped, while Miki was wearing a one-piece, her entire figure encompassed by it. Feeling slightly weird and perverted, I turned away, awkwardly scratching my cheek.

"Hey, why's your back so scarred?" Miki asked. "I meant to ask before, but forgot."

_Shit, I forgot about my back. _"Acne and the car accident." The words quickly came out of my mouth.

The mention of the car accident was enough to silence the group, but it wasn't my intention to do that.

My head craned back to the three girls for me to tell them to forget about it whenever something hit me in the back. It hurt for a few seconds, but the strike wasn't hard enough to cause major pain.

"Another scar for you, pervert!" Suzu nearly shouted.

The object clomped on the floor and I looked at it. It was a shoe.

"You know that a shoe isn't going to scar me, right?"

Suzu smacked me in the back with her hand. "And how would you know? Did you experiment with them during one of your disgusting fetish sex parties in the United States?"

_And here we go, yet again._

I looked at the girls, noting that Misha was confused, though it wasn't hard to confuse her. Shizune had an eyebrow raised, probably wondering what was going on, and Miki just frowned at Suzu. My head then turned to face Suzu, who was wearing a one-piece swimsuit that ended with a frilly skirt-like thing.

"Gah! Don't look at me like that!" she exclaimed before stomping off onto the beach.

"Just how do you piss her off that much?" Miki asked once Suzu left.

I turned to face her. "No idea."

Misha, who was still confused, chimed in. "Why was Succhan angry with you, Adolf-chan?"

"She thinks he's a major pervert who rapes every girl he meets," Miki answered for me.

"Oh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't think you're a rapist, Adolf-chan!"

"Thanks, Misha," I said before taking a gander at the beach. "So, what are we going to do?"

Misha bent to her side and produced a volleyball from behind a chair. "Volleyball!"

"Sounds good. What are the teams?"

Misha held a quick signing session with Shizune before she turned back to me. "Shicchan said that she'll be on a team with Micchan!"

"So, that means that we're on a team?" I motioned to myself and then her.

Misha nodded with a grin. "Yup!"

She handed the ball to Shizune and started to sign while Miki nudged me. "You're going down."

I gave her a quick kiss on the lips and grinned. "Try me."

"I believe I've already had you."

Misha and Shizune walked down onto the beach, Shizune holding the ball, and we followed. I hadn't noticed it before, but there was a volleyball net set up. Misha and I took one end while Shizune and Miki took the other. Suzu laid on the sand, likely sleeping.

Miki and Shizune exchanged a nod and Shizune jumped into the air, tossing the ball up with one hand and smacking it with the other. The whole time, she had a determined and competitive look on her face. The ball came in my direction and my connected hands bumped the hard ball into the air and over their net.

_This is going to be one hell of a game._

* * *

Eventually, Suzu woke up and became something of a referee, though she kept throwing insults at me. She seemed to be more of a one-sided ref.

The game dragged on for a while, the ball occasionally staying in the air for upwards of five minutes. Misha was surprisingly good, so she kept Shizune in a stalemate, as did I with Miki. The game ended with a tie, since three of us decided against getting a match point. Shizune was the only one who wanted to continue.

Miki, Suzu, and Shizune all hopped into the pool, since the ocean was out of the question, especially for Suzu. Misha went inside to grab something to drink and I decided to follow her. She didn't notice me following her, even as she opened the fridge. When she closed the fridge, she jumped.

"You scared me!" she said, huffing a little. After a brief second, she grinned and laughed it off. "So, what's up Adolf-chan?"

_Shit, why was I following her? Something to do? Wait, I got something..._

"Do you know Sean Lynch?" I asked. It was something that was at the back of my mind for a couple days.

Misha popped the top of her soda and took a sip, nodding. "Oh, Sean-chan. He was late on the first day of school. Shicchan and I showed him around during lunch."

"He's been here that long?" I didn't think he was at Yamaku _that _long._  
_

Misha nodded. "Yep. Why?"

"No reason, he's just an old friend."

Misha's interest level: piqued. "Really?"

I was the one who nodded. "We went to school together back in the States. It's kind of weird, finding out that an old friend goes to the same school as you after you transfer, especially when you transfer to another nation." I decided against mentioning that I completely forgot who Sean was whenever we met in the common area.

Misha didn't laugh, and her voice wasn't as loud as usual. "That is kind of weird."

There was another thing bugging me. "Misha, why are you at Yamaku anyway?"

She did laugh at that. "I want to teach sign language!"

"Really?" It actually made sense, given how much she interpreted for Shizune.

"Yep!" Her drills bounced as she nodded. Her demeanor then became slightly serious, or as serious as Misha's face can become. "What about you Adolf-chan? An arrhythmia just like Hicchan, right?"

I shrugged and pulled out a chair to sit. _Might as well tell someone._ "Honestly, I don't know. I thought it was an arrhythmia, but I got to thinking Saturday morning and nothing adds up."

"How so?" She pulled out a chair as well and sat.

Though her interest and seriousness confused me, I began to explain to Misha what I meant. I mentioned everything that crossed my mind on the beach, from the lupus to the mental disorders. I even went as far as telling her what the head cardiologist said in May, about having an unhealthy combination of mental and physical disorders.

When I was done, Misha just took another sip of her soda. "I don't know what to say Adolf-chan." She stood, placing the can on the table, and her voice returned to normal. "But for now, we're on vacation! We should be having fun!"

She had a point. The whole point of the vacation was to have fun, not become bitter. I nodded and stood up as well.

"Hey Misha."

She had already started walking away, so she spun around on her heel and faced me, eyebrows raised. "Huh?"

"Thanks." Her eyebrows cocked. "For hearing me out."

Her brain registered what I said and she nodded with her wide smile. "Anytime, Adolf-chan! Now let's go have fun!"

She latched onto my arm and dragged me outside with her. She hopped into the pool, pulling me in with her. When I surfaced, Miki and Suzu were laughing at me.

"Sorry, Adolf-chan!" Misha apologized, embarrassed.

A grin found its way on my face while my hands pushed some water upward and into Misha's face. "It's okay, Misha. Just have to get you back."

She huffed, her drills straightening out due to the water. It looked better on her, to be perfectly honest. She pushed some water at me, only to miss and hit Suzu. Misha must have prayed to the Drill Gods, the Wahaha Gods, or something, because her actions caused a domino effect. Soon, the entire pool was a wave pool.

_Misha's right, just have fun. And this is fun._

Our fun was interrupted, however, by a black-suited figure who happened to walk out from the house.

"Hey, don't get my suit wet!" Akira exclaimed. "Wankers," she added in English.

_Scots call people 'wankers?' _I was genuinely confused about that.

"Oh, hi Akichan!" Misha exclaimed. "Why are you here?"

_Does she nickname everyone? _A shorter, blue-haired person walked up to Akira's side. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"Hi, Misha. I'm just dropping off Hideaki. Uncle asked me if I could, so I brought the twerp."

She raised a hand and ruffled Hideaki's hair. The name was familiar. If I was right, Lilly said that Shizune's little brother was named Hideaki, but this kid was as androgynous as Akira. Akira then noticed me.

"Oh, heya Adolf. Having a harem I see," she joked with a grin.

"You know it," I joked back.

"Oh, I almost forgot..." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flier. "This was hanging on the front door."

"Can I see it?" Misha asked. Akira complied and held it in front of Misha's face. "This is for that one live house in Tokyo! And Ric- I mean, Ritsu's band is going to be playing!"

_She didn't nickname Ritsu? And she knows about the band? Well, I guess the Council would know that._

"When do they play?" I asked, somewhat curious. Miki, Shizune, and Suzu were all lightly splashing each other with water.

"Tomorrow night," Misha replied before Akira snatched the flier away.

"I'll leave it on the kitchen table for you." She turned to walk away, ruffling Hideaki's hair once more. "I gotta get back to work, so I'll talk to you guys later."

She waved as she walked away and Hideaki awkwardly stood next to the pool. I seriously hoped he wasn't like his sister, citing the differences between Lilly and Akira as being my cause for hoping that.

"I'll be inside if you need me," he said almost monotonously. He quickly walked inside.

I turned back to Misha, Hideaki clearly not being a bro. "So, you want to go to this live house or whatever it is?"

Misha nodded. "Yep! We should, it'll be fun!"

I started to nod to indicate that she was being agreed with whenever she pushed some water at me. I pushed some water back and the pool became a wave pool once more. Misha really liked having fun.

* * *

**AN: This chapter took a whole three or four days to type. This chapter is also part of a double upload, since the next chapter is the shortest one in this story so far.**

**Anyway, Anti-Bob, why're you so Anti-Bob? And I have nothing against Canadian bacon (okay, yes I do, but you're right, bacon is bacon). I also hope you, a Canadian, got the Kraft Dinner thing.**

**Not much to say, although I don't think this chapter was one of my better ones. The next chapter is experimental (I like doing that) and it will have no Author's Note at the end. I have no regrets in regards to writing it, but if you also read "Blind Sided" and have poor inferring skills, you may have a bit of the story spoiled. Again, only if you have poor inferring skills.**

**As usual, review and all that spaß scheiße.**


	26. The Scoop

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Scoop

"Well, I don't think we'll be able to go anyway, since we'll need to catch a plane."

I sigh and lean back in my chair, wondering why that matters anyway. We didn't have the funds for a plane, regardless. The blonde-haired girl speaking on the phone taps me on the shoulder and motions to the door.

"Can you leave me for a minute?" she asks.

I nod and stand, walking to the door. My hand curls around the cool metal and turns the doorknob. The door opens and I walk out, gently closing it behind me. Her phone call probably wasn't that important, but it didn't hurt to be polite.

Walking back to my room is the backup plan, since I have nothing else to do. I open the door and walk in, sitting on the bed. The TV remote is right next to me, so I pick it up and turn on the TV. After flicking through the channels, it ends up on the news, just what I wanted.

"Tensions between the United States and North Korea intensified today," the anchor went on to explain. It's not surprising, since the People's Republic of Korea has been out for American blood for fifty-some years.

I sigh and watch the report about the PRK threatening to launch their nuclear weapons at the States. It just seems like a bunch of empty threats to me. North Korea issued I-don't-know-how-many threats against the Americans and never took action once.

"And now for the weather. The typhoon has moved completely out of the country, now heading northeast..."

That's good. The typhoon's been kind of a pain, preventing us from doing anything for nearly a week. I'm not quite sure what I should do for now, but that's mainly because there's nothing to do. I look around the room for something I might be able to do. Maybe the summer homework, or...

My English textbook catches my eye. Yes, that's what I'll do, study more English. I latch onto the book, pull it up onto my lap, and open it. I'm pretty confident with my abilities in English, though my proficiency is thanks to Lilly and Adolf.

There's a knock at my open door, precluding my thoughts. I look at the doorway and see Natsume standing in the doorway.

"Naomi wants to see you," she says.

I nod, stand, and leave the room. I wonder what Naomi wants, since she was talking on the phone the whole time. I shake my head, certain the president has her reasons. I reach her room and knock on the open door.

"Y-you wanted me?" I ask.

Naomi looks up from her bed and nods, pointing to the chair I was sitting in before. "Yeah, just take a seat for now."

My butt connects with the chair and Naomi gets up out of bed. She starts pacing back and forth, something she has a habit of doing, though I've never seen her do it when her boyfriend Katakana was around. It's silly that his name is a character set. I'll have to ask Adolf if he knows anyone named 'Alphabet.'

"Okay, so the typhoon's out of the way and our plans to go to Okinawa fell through. We don't have anything for an article when break's over, but guess what?"

I have no idea why she's telling me, but okay. "W-what?"

"There's going to be a performance at one of those live houses downtown tomorrow night, and we're going."

Aren't there always performances at those? "May I ask why?"

Naomi spins around. "You know Ritsu Tainaka?"

I nod. If I'm right, she's the girl two seats to my right in class. She has carpal tunnel, so Mutou-sensei doesn't have her write on anything that isn't a test.

Naomi flashes a grin. "Well, before she came to Yamaku, she was the drummer in a band from an all-girls high school in Kyoto called 'After School Tea Time.'"

"A-are they performing?" I'm pretty sure that's what she's getting at.

Naomi nods. "Right on the money! They're performing, and since Ritsu is our classmate, it makes perfect sense to cover the performance!"

"But, why are you telling m-me?"

Naomi stops and gives me an awfully wide grin. "Because, Hanako, it's _your _article."

"M-mine?" is all I can force out. I'm speechless.

"All yours. Live houses are dark in the audience anyway, so you'll be fine. All you'll need to do is cover Ritsu's band's performance and snap a couple shots of the band, preferably getting Ritsu in a clear shot."

If the live house is dark, then that's a good thing. Despite becoming more confident, I still have issues, but this is exciting! My very first article! Up until now, all I've done is edit, but she's letting me write an article!

"Are you sure you w-want me to write it?" I ask despite my excitement.

Naomi puts her hands on her hips. "You know, Hanako, your emotions betray your words. I can tell how excited you are, and yes, I'm certain I want you to write it."

Maybe I was smiling, or something. I don't really know, but I decide to just nod at Naomi. "I'll do my best."

"I'm certain you will Hanako, now-" Her phone starts ringing and she says something in another language. She pulls out the phone, checking who is calling. "Katakana. Hanako, would you...?"

Please leave? Understanding what she means, I nod and stand, leaving her alone in her room. She seems to have a good relationship with her boyfriend, despite his silly name.

I'm not sure how I should prepare for the writing the article, but taking a notepad and camera should be enough. I walk back to my room and decide to continue with English. Maybe German would be more impressive? I sigh, wishing I could get my hands on a German book.

"Auf Wiedersehen," I mumble under my breath. It's one of the very few things I do know in German. All I know is what little Adolf told me.

_Just tell him how you feel,_ a voice in the back of my head says. Obviously I should do that, but he's with Miki all the time. And what if he laughs at me? I just... I can't imagine how horrible that would be. He left me be during my birthday, so that's something, right? Unless he was with Miki that whole time...

I groan and fall back onto the pillows. After Lilly left for Scotland, he just wanted to call it a day. I was upset a little, but looking back, maybe he was just really tired. Yes, that has to be it. He bought me two presents, the doll and the book, so that also means something, shouldn't it? The book was pretty good, too. And then karaoke, that was fun...

"Maybe I'm just a little worked up," I mumble. That's all, I'm just getting all worked up over nothing. He's such a nice boy anyway, despite his namesake. He isn't cruel and he looks past my scars.

There's a weird feeling in my stomach. Great, butterflies. Stop it Hanako, just calm down. Even if he does start dating Miki, she's a nice girl. Kind of a brute, smacking people all the time, but really nice and understanding. That is, when she isn't smacking people.

I stand, thinking it's for the best to get something to drink. We rented out a series of hotel rooms in Tokyo, so each room had a mini-fridge, just like the dorms at school. Opening the fridge door, I grab a bottle of water and twist off the cap. After I take a few gulps of water, I set the bottle on top of the fridge and my phone rings.

Lilly bought me the phone, just in case I needed it. I didn't want her to get it for me, but she insisted, so here it is. I pull it out of my pocket and check the caller identification. It's Lilly, so I answer almost immediately.

"Lilly!" I nearly screech. Maybe I'm too excited.

"Hello Hanako," Lilly replies, her voice as calm as ever. "How's Tokyo?"

"It's wonderful, even though it's been raining. The buildings are so tall and it's so colorful!"

Lilly giggles at my excitement. "I'll bet it's beautiful."

I sit on my bed and twirl a lock of hair. "So, uh, how are you and Sean doing?"

"We're doing fi-"

"Hey Hanako!" Sean's voice becomes audible through the phone. His Japanese still isn't that great.

"Hi Sean," I reply, Lilly audibly giggling.

"Oh get out," she playfully says. "Anyway, we're fine."

I think of something else to say, remembering what Naomi entrusted me with. "Lilly, guess what?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm writing an article!"

"Really? I'm quite proud of you, Hanako. May I ask what it's about?"

I tell her about Ritsu and her band, as well as how Naomi told me she wanted me to cover the event.

After I finish, Lilly starts speaking. "I'm excited for you Hanako!"

"I am, too!" Sean booms over the phone.

"T-thanks," I say. Sean's a nice boy, too. I wonder if it's because he's been friends with Adolf since middle school.

"Hanako, I'm sorry but we have to go," Lilly says, genuinely apologetic.

"Lilly, um..."

"Yes Hanako?"

"I, um..." No, I don't think I should mention Adolf. I am just getting too anxious about this. "I just wanted to thank you again."

Lilly and I exchange goodbyes and I lie back down on the bed. Yeah, I am just getting too anxious. I want him to see me as more than a friend, though. He'll be really happy for me when he finds out I wrote an article, right?

Sighing, I grab the TV remote and turn the television off. Maybe reading a book will help clear my mind...


	27. Hit and Run

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Hit and Run

A cool breeze blew by, ruffling the leaves in the trees. A pink wisp of hair was also tossed around in the wind, a little bit of the hair getting in my face.

"Dammit Misha! Control your hair!" I said, despite knowing that she couldn't control her hair.

The girl-in-question started to giggle. "I'm sorry Adolf-chan!" She wasn't sincerely sorry, for obvious reasons.

"It's fine." _Yeah, because it's not like she can help it._

The road that ran by the beach house didn't seem to be an often traveled one, instead appearing to be oft-forgotten. There were a few fancy houses along the road, so it made some sense that not many people drove along the road. Barely any cars passed by since we arrived at the beach house, and not a single one passed us as we walked to the train station.

Shizune started to sign to Misha, who conveyed the message to me. "Shicchan says that it's too bad Succhan and Micchan didn't come."

_Yeah,_ I thought as my head bounced in agreement. _Suzu didn't want to go and Miki opted to stay with her. Don't girls usually like to go with their boyfriends on outings like this?_

I sighed as the three of us walked up to the train station. A little distance seemed like it could be beneficial, given the fact that Miki and I already were sharing a bed. If things moved too fast, our relationship could end relatively quickly, though it could also last long. It wasn't a risk I was willing to take, regardless.

As we walked up to the platform, a train pulled into the station. It was sort of strange that the train pulled in at the same time we arrived, but stranger things have definitely happened, such as people liking Justin Bieber or One Direction, among others. How that happened is a mystery among mysteries.

One of the signs read '東京 (Tokyo)' next to the newly arrived train's platform. It seemed like our train was the one to pull into the station, the slowly fading orange light of the sun reflecting off of the train's metallic parts.

"That's our train!" Misha said.

"Yeah, I kinda figured," I replied, having just read the sign. "You mind telling me why we're here right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"It only takes about twenty minutes to get into Tokyo on the train. That live house thing isn't until about ten or eleven, and we're going into Tokyo at eight-thirty."

Misha, as usual, translated for Shizune. "Well, Adolf-chan, we decided that we should take you around Tokyo!"

"For an hour?" Her idea of showing someone around was equivalent to dragging them from place to place, only showing it to them for five seconds at most.

Misha started to twirl one of her drills. "Well, okay. We weren't going to show you around, but I do have some business to attend to."

"Business?" Misha never struck me as a girl who was taking care of business.

"You'll see," she replied with a laugh.

"Sure," I mumbled as we walked up to the train. The doors opened and a couple people got off of the train. The three of us stepped onto the train and took a seat as the doors closed, waiting to ride into the nation's capital.

Shizune started signing to Misha, and the latter translated for me. "So, did you and Micchan... do anything last night?"

_Nice dramatic pause._ I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "No, we didn't."

Shizune frowned and signed some more upon receiving Misha's translation. "Shicchan said that she didn't make such arrangements for nothing!" Misha laughed a little after she finished translating for me.

_As usual, Misha misses Shizune's intended meaning entirely. _"Well, why's she trying to get me and Miki to have sex?"

Confused, Misha translated. She then did the same with Shizune's response, laughing. "Who said anything about sex, Adolf-chan?"

It was my turn to be confused. Holding my forehead, I shook my head. "What the hell do you mean? Why'd you make these 'arrangements' then?"

I wasn't looking at Misha, but I knew she was signing. The shuffling of her clothes as her arms moved told me as much. Once the Drilled One was done signing, there wasn't a response from the Student Council president, so my head slowly moved upward. Shizune's mischievous grin is what awaited me.

Swearing and still confused, I put my head back into my hand again. Shizune definitely implied that she wanted Miki and I to engage in coitus, or something of the sort. Her games really pissed me off.

A few minutes passed, and since there weren't that many people on the train, the only noises I heard were the shuffling of clothing from Shizune and Misha signing, the train moving on the tracks, and the occasional word from someone else on the train.

"Adolf-chan!" Misha suddenly said. Turning my head to her, my eyebrow cocked automatically. "Shicchan wants to know what you thought of her in her swimsuit!"

_So loud... Wait, in her swimsuit?_ "Why's she asking? Does she like me or something?"

I failed to remember that Misha translated everything for Shizune. Shizune's response was a mixture of a light blush, an awkward adjustment of her glasses, and some hasty signing.

"Shicchan says that she doesn't like you like that, Adolf-chan," Misha translated with her trademark laugh. "Also, she said to answer the question."

Though Shizune probably intended that second sentence to be imperative and serious, Misha's tone transformed it into a lighthearted and passive sentence. To be perfectly fair, Shizune looked good in the swimsuit.

My hand snaked up to the back of my neck, my fingernails digging in a little. "She looked good," I said, unsure of how my answer would affect Shizune.

Once Misha translated, Shizune's response was different. She pulled out her phone and started hastily tapping the keypad, frowning a little. Once she was done, she sent the message and my phone vibrated. Giving her my number was both a good idea and a very bad one. I pulled out the phone and tapped around on the screen, opening my messages.

**What would your girlfriend say if she saw you checking out other girls?**

I changed the keyboard to Japanese, which primarily used hiragana, and slowly typed out a message.

Excuse me for trying to be nice, Shicchan.

After tapping 'send,' I awaited Shizune's response. Her phone vibrated and she flicked it open, reading the message. Her mouth curved into a full-blown frown and she looked at me, trying to eat away my soul, it seemed. I remembered that she didn't like being called 'Shicchan' by anyone, Misha being something of an exception, and I used that to my advantage. My mouth twisted into a goofy smirk and she threw her hands up. _Two can play this game,_ I thought.

Misha cocked an eyebrow at me, wondering what I did, and my response was a childlike snicker. After that, the rest of the trip into Tokyo, which was fairly short, was spent in silence.

We didn't actually stop at Tokyo Station. Instead, we made a couple transfers and stopped at the Shindaita Station, which was right across the street from the live house Ritsu's band was to perform in. The live house was called 'Fever,' which just sounded like some kind of nightclub where everyone shoots up heroin.

The three of us walked out onto the streets of Tokyo and I pulled out my phone to check the time. According to the phone, it was nine forty-five, making our trip much longer than I anticipated. Misha seemed to know where she wanted to go, powering off with Shizune in tow as I looked around the city in awe.

"Come on Adolf-chan! This way!" Misha was beckoning for me to follow. There weren't any alternatives, making compliance my only option.

We walked across a crosswalk with white lines longer than any I had ever seen in Pennsylvania and made a left, crossing another street. After passing a convenience store named 'FamilyMart' in English, the journey ended, since we stopped in front of a store with a placemat in front of it that had three Latin characters on it: 'aim.'

"'Aim?'" I asked aloud.

"Wait here with Shicchan, Adolf-chan! I'll be out in a few minutes!" Misha then promptly walked into the store.

Since Shizune wasn't the talking type, mainly because she lacked the ability to do so, I looked inside the store through the window. It was a hair salon, but Misha had already done her drills, making me question our presence at the salon.

I took a look around the salon's façade and noticed some signs partially in English. The store was called 'Aim Plus One' and served as a hair and nail salon. Other than that, the rest of the signs contained Japanese, a language that I didn't feel like reading at the moment.

Shizune started walking towards the FamilyMart we passed. Unsure of what she was doing, I pulled out my phone to text her when movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Looking up, the movement was actually Shizune ushering me to follow. I opened the messaging app on my phone and started to type a message to Shizune.

Pour quoi?

'Why?' It was one of the things my sister taught me in French. Shizune sighed when she received the message. Opening her phone, she looked at me almost immediately and pointed to her phone, raising both shoulders into a shrug. She started typing into her phone and flipped it shut. At roughly the same time, I received a message in Japanese, which I quickly copied and pasted into a translator due to the kanji.

**Speak Japanese, idiot! Not, what is that, Portuguese? Seriously! Now, just follow me!**

Nodding, I started to follow her, typing another message, not in Japanese, but in English.

That was actually French, and don't worry. I am following you.

After I tapped 'send,' Shizune pulled out her phone and read the message, turning and glaring at me afterward. She turned into the FamilyMart and I followed as she started to type once more into her phone. I opened the door and she walked in, me following behind. After walking down half an aisle, she slid the phone into her pocket and a notification popped up on my phone. I swiped it and read Shizune's message.

**I can read and write in English, you know. I do not care if it was French, also. Now, assist me in finding a bar of chocolate.**

I was surprised by the English message, so I typed another message in English quickly and sent it.

Is there even a point in you learning how to read and write in English? Why not learn American Sign Language or British Sign Language or something?

I sent the message, even though it seemed kind of stupid to ask. I did keep in mind that a stupider question to ask would be 'why do you wear glasses if you're deaf?' That would be downright stupid to ask.

Shizune stomped her foot when her phone vibrated, annoyed that I wasn't helping her find a candy bar. She pulled out her phone and angrily flipped it open, reading the message. Her fingers started tapping and, once finished after much furious movement, she flipped the phone shut with finality. Another notification appeared on my phone and my finger swiped across once more, only for me to be greeted by Japanese.

**Because, I'm not you. Three languages is enough. There's no point in learning a language that will be basically useless, and since I can read and write in English, it's stupid to learn one of the sign languages. Now shut up and let's find that candy bar.**

I started typing on my phone, something Shizune noticed since she was looking right at me. Blatantly disregarding her was something I hoped she viewed as a challenge The candy bar ordeal wasn't something I understood, however, since Shizune didn't seem to like such foods. Once I finished typing, I sent the message.

Why is it stupid to learn another sign language? Better yet, why are they useless?

Shizune already had her phone out, most likely annoyed with me. She read the short message and immediately started to type away.

**Japanese Sign Language is very convenient for me and I plan on staying in Japan. I'm not going to the U.S. or the U.K. to live, so being able to read and write English is enough to get by for any encounters I have with any English speakers. I've also got written Japanese for those who don't know Japanese Sign Language. Besides, who would just walk around with an interpreter of any sign language?**

You do.

**Misha doesn't count at all. She wants to teach sign language, so not only is it convenient for me, it's practice for her.**

But she's not teaching anyone.

**Then let her teach you, if you're so linguistically gifted.**

I learned a lot of Japanese on my own and that was pretty damn hard. German and Russian I learned as a child. English is a given. Besides, what use would I have for JSL?

**It could make communication between us a whole lot easier, for one.**

Would I use it outside of conversation with you? Likely not.

Shizune looked at the last message and shook her head, typing on her phone again.

**We'll continue this later. As for now, can we find the damned candy bars? We've been here for five minutes already.**

Aren't they by the register?

Shizune looked at her phone, then at me, then back at her phone. She seemed like she had a stupid moment, but didn't want to admit it.

**I knew that. Just making sure you knew that.**

Shizune wasn't convincing at all, but I decided to not pursue the matter further. It was best to just drop the subject and continue on our merry way. We walked to the register and Shizune grabbed a few candy bars, some with English labels and others with Japanese labels. She handed them to the woman at the register and she ringed the items up. The total came out to a little under five hundred yen. Shizune reached into her pocket and pulled out a single five hundred yen coin and handed it to the cashier.

The candy bars and change were put into a bag and we left the store, not a single message being sent between us. We walked back down to the hair salon and waited outside. Shizune made me stand away from the window for some reason. It wasn't bothersome, since she handed me one of the candy bars. A Hershey bar, to be exact.

_Chocolate makes everything better, _I thought as I started to peel the wrapper back in order to break off a chunk of the wonderful milk chocolate. My free hand latched onto the bar and broke off a chunk after the wrapper was peeled back. I raised the chunk to my mouth and started to chew it when the hair salon's door opened.

I craned my neck past Shizune's obstructive body. The person leaving had pink hair that was cropped extremely short, about as long as my hair, with a heart-shaped hairclip holding some of the hair in place. Misha had decided to demobilize the Drill Army.

She turned to Shizune, who signed something. Misha signed back and then looked at me expectantly. "Well, Adolf-chan? What do you think?"

I wasn't sure what to think, especially after being used to the drills for so long. What I wanted to do was grab Misha and shake her, shouting, 'Who are you and what have you done with Misha?!'

"It looks good," I complimented. It was going to take a while to get used to short-haired Misha.

Misha let out a weak laugh. "Thanks, Adolf-chan."

"Is that what you meant by 'business?'" I asked.

Misha nodded with a wide grin. "Yep! I was getting tired of the drills anyway."

_It's her hair, _I thought. _She can do with it as she pleases._

"Like I said, it looks good. Better, actually."

"Really?" Misha seemed a little surprised. "You think so?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do. Now, shall we be going?"

Misha's head bounced up and down, though she seemed confused about my compliment. She signed our plans to Misha and the three of us set off, walking past FamilyMart. We crossed the street there, continued along the bridge, crossed the street at the end of it, walked some more, and arrived at the live house.

The live house itself was only marked by a small sign on the front that said 'FEVER' in English. We walked down the stairs to enter the establishment, which had a poster on the window, listing the bands that were to perform.

"Hey Misha," I called when the name of Ritsu's band entered my field of view.

"Huh?" She was already in the live house's lobby.

My pace quickened to catch up. "What do you know about Ritsu's band?" Misha spun around completely, tapping her chin, while Shizune went to pay or something. I didn't know what she was doing.

"I know they're from an all-girls school somewhere close to Tokyo. I think Ricch- er, Ritsu lied to some people when they asked, though."

"Why?"

"So no one would go to her old school, I guess." She leaned in close to me. "But the Student Council knows the truth!" She laughed.

"Wonderful," I said.

Shizune walked over to Misha and tapped her on the shoulder, motioning for the both of us to follow her. We made a left and walked down the hall before making a right and entering the actual concert area, I guess it'd be called. To our immediate right was a bar, which I knew none of us could utilize, and in front of us was a crowd of people. Noise polluted the air.

"You know, Adolf-chan," Misha half-shouted to me. "I've heard recordings of Ritsu's band before. They're really good!"

"I'll take your word for it," I half-shouted back as we waded through the crowd to approximately the middle.

Shizune seemed perfectly content with being unable to hear the music that was going to be played, as though she was able to 'hear' by feeling the vibrations made by the amplifiers and such. _Misha did say Shizune knows how to have a good time, though._

"What about the other band members?" I asked Misha, still half-shouting. "What are their names?"

Misha took almost no time to think. "There are two guitar players, Yui and Azusa, and Yui's also the lead vocalist. The bassist's name is Mio and she occasionally does vocals. Lastly, there's Tsumugi, who plays the keyboard."

"And just how do you know all of this?"

Misha shuffled a little. "I may or may not have taken a liking to the group after hearing one of their performances..."

_Some people do stranger things. As long as she doesn't have posters of these girls hanging in her room, it's not weird at all._

I merely nodded and waited for the first performance to start. Looking around, I realized I was among the tallest in the crowd, standing at a whopping five feet and eleven inches, approximately. Being taller than most at Yamaku, bar Mikhail and some others, was something I never got bothered by. In fact, I barely even noticed half of the time. Hell, I even considered Lilly to be tall.

The first group came out after a muffled announcement was made and the lights were basically turned off. They weren't all girls, instead being a half-men, half-women group. Their music didn't last terribly long, nor was it terrible even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, and another group came out soon after.

The second group was an all-guy band, and they played a song with lyrics in Japanese and English. The English parts weren't quite to my liking, but the beat of the song was alright. They received more applause than the first group and started another song. The second song, though not a bilingual one, was much better than the first. It actually sounded like it was a cover of a song I had heard before. Regardless, I joined in on the applause the second time around.

They packed up their gear and walked backstage, allowing a third group to appear. Like the first and second groups, I didn't know their name. There was a lone man in the band and he set himself up behind a drum set. The women in the band didn't look too bad themselves, but that was just my raging hormones talking. They started playing a song with a rather lighthearted melody at first, but progressed to heavy chords relatively quickly. The vocals contrasted with the actual music, being soft compared to the heavy riffs and drum-thrashing.

Group Three got more applause than the other two groups, but it wasn't monumental. They began to perform a second song, one that was much more lighthearted than the first. At least it sounded lighthearted, but for all I knew, it could have been one of those songs promoting war or communism or something. Nonetheless, it had a really good beat and I found myself tapping my foot with the beat.

They finished and their members packed up to go backstage, and then another announcement was made, one that I was able to hear.

"Our final band for tonight is After School Tea Time from Sakuragaoka High School!" the announcer said. At first, I thought he said 'Hulk Hogan Tea Time,' but context helped me out a bit.

I glanced at Misha and she appeared to be pretty excited. The curtains were raised and Ritsu's band was revealed on the stage. The band wasn't tall at all. The shortest girl, who wore her blackish hair in pigtails, seemed to be even shorter than Emi, who also wore her hair in pigtails. The brown-haired girl walked up to the microphone and started to talk.

"Hello!" she said, recoiling at the echo produced by the microphone. She righted herself and began speaking again. "My name is Yui Hirasawa and we are After School Tea Time!" Applause rippled through the crowd, Misha clapping quite hard herself. "Our first song is 'Fuwa Fuwa Time!'"

Yui, who had a guitar slung over her shoulder, positioned it appropriately and was joined by the girl with pigtails, who also had a guitar slung over her shoulder. _That must be Azusa._

I spotted Ritsu in the back on the drums next to a blonde girl on the keyboard._ That's Tsumugi._ There was another girl with what looked like a bass guitar standing in the middle of the left-hand side of the stage. _And that must be Mio._

Ritsu raised her drumsticks in the air and tapped them together three times before Yui started to play. It sounded like she was playing 'Blitzkrieg Bop' at first, given the way the initial chords were. Azusa joined in, as did the rest of the band, and Yui started singing not too long after. I couldn't understand everything she was saying, but she sang clear enough for me to understand most of the song.

I heard a couple things about boy troubles, but that may have only been mistranslation. Once the song finished, applause rumbled throughout the audience, myself included. It was an awfully girly song, but it was very good at the same time.

Yui walked up to the microphone once more. "Our next song is 'My Love is a Stapler!'"

_My love is a goddamned stapler?! That sounds a little sadistic, if you ask me! _I was genuinely concerned, especially since Yui announced it so cheerfully, despite sounding like she wanted to talk more.

Ritsu raised her sticks once more and I felt a little pressure build up around my manhood. Out of all the times I felt the need to use the bathroom, it was in the middle of a crowd.

_Scheiße, _I thought. It didn't seem urgent, so I forewent wading through the crowd to find a place to take a leak. It was too inconvenient. Ritsu started the song by drumming and Mio made her way to the mic. She was an attractive girl, however shy she seemed by staying in the back. Everyone was playing and she started to sing.

While I was intently watching the band perform the oddly-named song, someone bumped into me and dropped something. I looked down, noticing it was shaped like a notepad, and knelt down to pick it up. With the notepad in hand, I returned to my full height and turned to my side, holding the notepad out to the person who bumped into me. The dim light made it hard to see, but the person appeared to be a girl, who was several inches shorter than me, with long hair.

The girl took the notepad, looked up at me, and muttered, "A-arigatō." It was barely audible, but I recognized the voice.

_That stutter sounds so familiar..._

A light shot out across the crowd when Yui started singing, enlightening my face and the girl's face. The girl turned out to be none other than Hanako.

"A-A-Adolf?" she stuttered.

"Fancy seeing you here, Hanako," I replied with a smile. It was legitimately surprising to see her at a live house in Tokyo of all places.

Hanako became a deer caught in the headlights. "I... I-I-I..."

"Something wrong?" I asked, unsure of what else to do.

"I'VEGOTTAGODOSOMETHING!" she shouted, though not loud enough to disrupt the band. She dashed off, pushing through countless people.

I stood in place stupidy, my mouth agape. _What did I do?_

"Hanako, wait!" I shouted after a moment, following her. I glanced over my shoulder to see Misha looking at me with her hand raised, but I couldn't stop.

The crowd already started to reform, so getting through slowed me down some. I ran out of the concert area and the live house itself, and into the streets of Tokyo. The sounds of people and music were clear from my head, replaced by the sounds of cars and trains.

My head jolted left and right, trying to get a fix on Hanako's location. I spotted her running past the FamilyMart that Shizune and I visited, and my legs started pumping. Several people hopped out of my way, tossing the occasional 'baka' or 'rokudenashi' at me.

"Hanako! WAIT!" I shouted again while running through the streets like a madman. She was fast, but I was faster. I sped up my pace, hoping to catch up while shouting for her to wait again.

Hanako just started to run past another street when the sound of tires screeching echoed and the light from headlights appeared with the front end of a car. Time seemed to slow and my chest started to hurt extremely bad as Hanako got tossed up onto the hood of the car. Her limp body ricocheted off of the windshield and onto the sidewalk.

"No..." was all I could utter as time seemed to return to normal.

Powering through my chest pain, which was damn close to doubling me over, I ran to her side. "Hanako!" I started to feel nauseated.

My knees bucked, and my body nearly toppled over as I ran around the car to check on Hanako. It seemed that my motor skills were being impaired. The driver of the car was already out, checking on Hanako.

"Arschloch!" I insulted the woman as I bent down to check the scarred girl.

My chest was starting to hurt even more, to the point of nearly making me fall on Hanako. She was semi-conscious and a trickle of blood was running down the side of her head. I turned to the driver to tell her to call an ambulance, but she was already on her phone with 119, talking frantically.

"It's going to be okay, Hanako," I whispered as I applied pressure to the side of her head in hopes that it would stop the bleeding. "You'll be fine." A hot tear rolled down my cheek. _This isn't fucking good!_

"Adolf..." she mumbled, looking right at me.

I used my free hand to stroke her hair, which I hoped was comforting. "Shh, Hana. Save your energy." _I should be a damn life coach._

She was in obvious pain and refused to save her energy, trying to shake her ahead. "I..." It sounded like she was trying to speak in English. "I l..." _She just made an 'l' sound__._

Hanako's eyes were slowly closing the whole time she struggled to speak in English, and they closed completely before she could finish what she was saying. The first thing I did was check the pulse from her wrist. She still had one, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief.

_What was she trying to say though? 'I l...' Goddamn, what could it be?_

I looked at her face again and memories of the accident came back to me in a painful flash, causing an even higher spike in chest pain. Images of blood, twisted metal, fire... The scent of blood, charred flesh, and gasoline...

My chest cavity felt as though it was ablaze. My arms seized up, my stomach flipped cartwheels, and breathing became much more difficult. I tried to continue stroking Hanako's hair, but my arms weren't able to move. I doubled over, slumping over onto Hanako.

_No, not now. No! God-fucking-dammit! Am I having a heart attack?_

My chest tightened even more and I could hardly breathe. The woman who drove the car noticed me slumped onto Hanako.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I couldn't breathe, let alone respond. She must have still been on the phone, because she mentioned something about both of us needed medical attention. The only thing I could see was the sidewalk.

I could feel Hanako's chest steadily rising and falling, reassuring me some more. However, my predicament didn't seem to be getting better. Ambulance sirens became audible and steadily grew louder until the ambulance must have been next to us. The pain in my chest was absolutely unbearable.

_Am I going to die? _I wondered._ This is a hell of a way to go. Guess Death finally caught up with me from Pennsylvania..._

My eyelids started to feel as heavy as boulders and everything turned to black as the paramedics came to get us.

* * *

**AN: "Baka" = Idiot; "Rokudenashi" = Asshole**

**It took me so long to write this chapter for a number of reasons, mainly a major brain fart. Then, school started and I had to run a mile in my gym class. A mile is four laps on the track, and I somehow ran five on accident, so my entire body was hurting for a couple days (I'm out of shape). Also, I fixed my better computer and started teaching myself Japanese. I also am now (possibly) part of a visual novel development crew. Finally, I couldn't think of a way to put my ideas on (figurative) paper and I spent time researching locations in Tokyo. There are definite inconsistencies, but that's mainly with the train lines.**

**Adolf's mention of using the bathroom during "My Love is a Stapler" is going to be very important in the future, just saying. I also retconned Adolf's height, and Yui wasn't offering one of her usual pre-show speeches for a reason.**

**Since school is back in, I won't be able upload as frequently, and since I have nothing else to really say, enjoy the chapter and offer your criticisms!**

**P.S.: The band from K-on! is known as Ho-Kago Tea Time in Japan. Oh, and come up with a better title for me, I dare you.**

**P.P.S.: GTA V comes out on the 17th, and I don't know if chapter 28 will be done by then.**


	28. Not Your Fault

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Not Your Fault

_Snow was falling at a steady pace, covering the area in the white substance. A dazzling white blanket covered the area, though only an extremely thin layer was on the paved road. An ambulance, sirens blaring, sped across the road, churning up small white specks. On a gurney inside the ambulance lied an unconscious teenager, emergency medical technicians on each side of him._

_The boy's pulse slowed immensely and one of the technicians raised a defibrillator unit, rubbing the paddles together. He hovered them over the teen's semi-bare chest, potentially life threatening shards of metal in certain areas and blood drenching the rudimentary bandaging._

"_Clear!" the technician obligatorily stated as he pushed the paddles down onto the teen's chest and squeezed the triggers. The boy's pulse quickened a little, so the technician rubbed the paddles together again._

"_Jesus," the second technician said, looking out of the door windows. "We're just passing Arby's."_

_The first technician swore under his breath before allowing the paddles to hover over the boy's chest once more. "Clear!" The paddles went down onto the chest of the victim, the surge of electricity trying to force the boy's heart to start pumping more. The boy's body rose and thumped on the gurney._

_The first technician checked the boy's pulse. His heart rate improved some more, becoming acceptable for a couple minutes before he would need to be shock paddled again. The first technician raised his forearm to his brow, wiping off a little bit of sweat that accumulated. He had been trying to keep the boy alive since they retrieved him from the site of the accident. CPR had to be administered and a defibrillator had to be used before he got put on the stretcher. The freak snow storm wasn't helping get him to the hospital any quicker, though._

"_Poor kid," he said. "Just hold on, we're almost there."_

* * *

My brain became aware after a surge of electricity coursed through me. My eyes felt extremely heavy and I didn't feel like opening them. The sound of sirens blaring reached my ears, making me wonder where it was coming from. Again, opening my eyes wasn't something on my 'to do' list.

"Kare no shinpaku-sū wa daijōbudesuga, kare wa mada ishiki fumei to omowa reru," a female voice said.

_Is that Japanese? _I wondered, curious as to why it sounded like gibberish to me. _Wait, what was I doing before I fell asleep? _My mind raced to find an answer. It didn't get too far, however, since I reentered my unconscious state almost immediately.

* * *

_**Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.**_

_Oh for Christ's sake. Kill yourself, alarm clock._

The beeping continued, much to my annoyance. I swung my arm out towards where my alarm clock would normally be, only for my hand to meet a fabric that felt like denim. Confused, my eyes slowly opened as my head rolled towards my arm. A pair of jeans and a masculine figure were what greeted me, along with the edge of an unfamiliar bed.

"Yoi koto wai, anata wa megasameta," the denim-wearing guy said, his voice disturbingly familiar.

My eyes snapped shut again, trying to translate what was said, some unusual difficulty being had. _Good thing I'm up? What? _I opened my eyes and looked straight up, a bespectacled face looking down at me.

"Kenji?" I said, my brain sluggishly trying to form a sentence in Japanese. Meanwhile, my eyes darted around, revealing medical equipment and curtains. Kenji was the only one in the room with me at the time.

"Glad you remember your brother-in-arms," Kenji said. Somehow, my brain switched into instant translation mode. "How do you feel?"

"Where am I?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Kānto Central Hospital," he replied. "Why? Didn't you know?"

I shook my head. "I just woke up from..." I paused, trying to think of what I just woke up from. "...from whatever the hell that was. Why am I in a hospital anyway?"

Kenji resorted to scratching his neck, his trademark scarf absent. "If I remember correctly, a heart attack. That's actually code for 'feminist bitches,' though. Therefore, you just escaped with your life. We need to..."

Anything Kenji was trying to say afterward went unnoticed by me. Upon hearing that I suffered a heart attack, I remembered everything. The live house, Hanako quickly running out and getting hit by a car, my chest basically collapsing on top of itself...

_I at least didn't die, _I positively thought, remembering my thoughts before blacking out. _But more importantly..._

"What about Hanako?" I asked.

Kenji, who was in the middle of talking about some hare-brained battle plan or something, was taken aback. "What?"

"Hanako," I repeated. "What about her? Is she okay?" The fact that Kenji was there wasn't even important to me.

Kenji scratched his neck again. "Uh, well... I don't really know."

_How don't you...? _I started to get a little angry. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"Well, no one told me she was here. But like I said, feminist bitches, so if she's involved, she's likely the-"

"NO!" I shouted. My heart rate started rising, which wasn't a good thing. "She's not involved, you ass! She got hit by a damned car and you're implying that she's a Godforsaken feminist? For Christ's sake, man, stop with that bullshit!"

Kenji was taken aback by my hostility and shut up. His mouth was slightly agape, his normally cool demeanor twisted into one of shock. Even though I knew that I was dealing with a case of Classic Kenji, calming down wasn't an easy thing to do for some reason.

"Just..." The word came out in English then Japanese. "Just go find out how she's doing..."

Kenji simply nodded and dashed to find out, probably confused in regards to my unusual anger. When he left, I found myself wondering the same thing. _Why did I get so angry? _Accidents happen all the time, and since I knew that Kenji wouldn't know, let alone care, I shouldn't have been that angry. _There is that little thing called bipolar... but that still... no, that's not it._

"Dammit..." I grunted in English, trying to figure out what made me mad. My eyes started to wander around again, taking in the rest of the room. White walls and ceilings clashed with the tile floor, but that was typical of hospitals. _It feels more like a sanatorium than a hospital, though._

It wasn't long until Kenji returned, my deductions not progressing much further. He closed the door behind him and scratched his neck nervously.

"Well?" I asked, a mixture of curiosity and concern grabbing hold of me.

"They said she woke up an hour ago," Kenji replied. "However, she's in shock."

_In shock? _"Do they know why she's in shock?" I asked.

"Even if they did, I don't think they'd tell me." Kenji shuffled back and forth before leaning in next to me. "Why do you even care, man?"

"Because she's a close friend and..."

_Were it not for me being at the live house, she wouldn't have gotten hit by that car. _It took a few seconds, but the realization sunk in. It was, for all intents and purposes, _my_ fault that we were both in the hospital. _But it was a complete accident, _I reasoned logically. _But, if I wasn't there, she wouldn't have been startled, meaning she wouldn't have ran out into the street._

"'And?'" Kenji asked expectantly.

"...and it's my fault that she's here." My voice was light, deflated, and barely audible.

"How the hell is it _your _fault?"

"Last night, I was at a live house with the Student Council, alright?"

"There's your first problem! You went with the damn Student Council of all people! I wouldn't be surprised if they were the ones who tried to assassinate you."

My hand rose. "Kenji, shut up." He grunted and quieted himself. "Hanako was there, too. Why, I don't know, but she dropped a little notebook or whatever after bumping into me. Mind you, it was dark, so we didn't really see each others' facial features. I bent down to pick it up and return it to her, but after I did, light from the show was cast over our faces. She panicked for some reason after she saw my face and ran out into the streets. I followed, trying to catch up, and then she got plowed by a car."

Kenji tapped his chin with his fingers. "Alright, but that doesn't exactly explain why you had a heart attack."

I sighed. "I had it whenever she got hit by the car. I didn't know it at the time, but now I do."

It was Kenji's turn to sigh as he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I don't know what to tell you, man." He looked across the room, likely to a clock. "Sorry, but I've got to go, since my shelter is still incomplete. Look, Miki and that blue-haired Feminazi have been in the waiting room for a while. Keep your eyes peeled and stay safe." He opened the door. "See you around."

"Kenji, wait." He stopped and turned to me, eyebrow cocked. "How did you know I was in the hospital?"

Kenji grinned. "My spleen."

"Your spleen?"

He nodded and felt the area around his spleen. "Never lies. See you, Adolf."

He did a small salute and left the room, the door softly closing behind him. There was a snowball's chance in hell that his spleen alerted him to my hospitalization. He couldn't have known what specific hospital I was at, either.

A few minutes after Kenji left, a nurse came in. Those few minutes in between were spent doing nothing outside of staring at the ceiling, not knowing what to think.

"Oh, Mister Riese, you're up," the nurse said. Similar to the one at Yamaku, this nurse was a guy. "Well, that's good. Your girlfriend, I think, is in the waiting room with another girl. You must be quite the ladies' man." He chuckled and progressed to the medical machines next to me. "Just let me get your vitals and I'll send them in."

He was writing the information down on his clipboard when I decided to ask some questions.

"Excuse me," I said. "I have a couple questions."

The nurse finished jotting down some of my vitals and turned his head to me, a friendly smile on his face, just like the nurse at Yamaku. "By all means, ask."

"That boy with the glasses. How did he get here?"

The nurse raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "I assume he rode the train. Why?"

"No, I mean _why _was he here?"

The nurse tapped his chin with the clipboard. "We looked in your wallet for contact information and we found a little card with his name and phone number on it."

_Are they even allowed to do that? Search through my stuff for contact info? ...Wait, how did a card with his phone number get in my wallet? No, wait, Kenji and phones?! I thought he didn't use phones!_

"So you just called him and informed him that I was here?" I asked, a little bit of disbelief in my voice.

The nurse nodded. "Yep. Were we not supposed to?"

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. Just wondered."

"Any other questions?" he asked, not even the slightest bit in a hurry.

"Yeah." I thought of how the question should be asked. "The girl that was admitted with me... how is she doing?" Even though Kenji asked, I wasn't entirely sure about trusting him.

"Well, she's awake," he said. He seemed a little wary about the subject. "However, she also appears to be in shock."

_Just like Kenji said. _"Is she going to be okay?"

The nurse heaved a sigh. "I don't really know."

"What do you mean you don't really know?" I wasn't trying to get angry, but it seemed that my pulse started to quicken again.

The nurse had a look in his eyes that seemed to tell me that he shouldn't really be talking to me about Hanako's condition. "She didn't respond to anything verbally when we tried speaking to her," he said regardless. "She's definitely awake, but she only accepted some water."

"Do you have any idea-"

"Unfortunately, no. We have no idea what caused her to enter shock, but it is definitely related to the accident that occurred last night." He knew what I was getting at before I finished. "Any more questions?"

"No," I said, my mind wandering. "Thanks for answering, though."

"Sure thing," the nurse said, grinning at the fact he helped a patient. He scribbled a few more things down and made his way to the door. "I'll send those girls in pretty soon, alright? Just sit tight."

_Will do,_ I thought after he left the room. _Can't do anything other than sit tight, anyway._

"_We have no idea what caused her to enter shock." _I started to wonder what could have possibly caused her to enter a state of shock that severe. I knew Hanako was prone to sudden bouts of fear that would cause her to run away, much like our first formal meeting, during which she ran away, but that didn't exactly match up with her going into shock. _Unless the attention that could possibly be gained from being hit put her into shock due to her immense fear of public attention. That, or getting hit by the car itself..._

My thoughts were cut short when the door opened again, Suzu entering first with Miki in tow. When the latter saw me, she rushed over to my side and hugged me. Her hair smelled good, but that didn't really comfort me.

"Oh my god," Miki worriedly breathed in my ear. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Unsure of what to do in such a position, I decided to assure her that I was fine. "I'm alright. It was nothing, really."

She leaned back and it seemed like I was about to be on the receiving end of a stump smacking. She didn't look like she was crying, danke Gott, but she was legitimately worried. "Nothing? Adolf, it was a heart attack! That isn't nothing, that's something!"

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing!"

Miki's eyes were fierce, though I couldn't tell if she was angry at me or just _really_ concerned. Either way, I had no counter-argument. Defeated, a sigh escaped my lips.

"Where are Shizune and Misha, then?" I asked.

"At the beach house." The reply came from Suzu, who had been leaning on the wall. As usual, she had an unpleasant tone when speaking to me.

"Misha called and told us that she saw you being put into an ambulance. The paramedics told her that you were being brought here," Miki added, tilting her head to the side and biting her lip. "She also said that you abruptly ran out of the live house after some girl." She didn't really sound jealous, but I couldn't be certain that she wasn't.

"So, who was she?" Suzu asked. She likely thought she was right with her accusations of me being an 'American pig' who has 'sex fetish parties.'

Another sigh seeped out from behind my lips. Telling them was the only real option if they didn't know. "Hanako."

The two girls were surprised, actually being speechless for a minute.

"Hanako?" Miki asked for clarification.

"No, it was Rin," I sarcastically replied. "Yeah, Hanako."

"But, why?"

"Why was she there?" Miki nodded. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Here's the important question," Suzu butted in. "Why did you chase her? Were you going to rape her?"

Suzu's comment made get a little angry and the heart monitor showed it. "No, dammit!"

_She was hit by a car and you think I was going to rape her?! Goddamn narcoleptic bitch! _My heart rate sped up some more before I realized that calming down would be a good idea. Neither seemed to know that Hanako was hit by a car. Regardless, Suzu's comment was uncalled for.

Miki shot a glare at Suzu before turning back to me. "Just calm down, and Suzu." She jabbed her stump at the blue-haired girl, causing Suzu's eyes to widen. "You keep quiet. Now, why did you start chasing her?"

Instead of a sigh, words started forming. The first thing I told the two girls about was how a girl bumped into me and dropped a notepad, then how the light from the stage revealed it to be Hanako. They knew that she ran out and I followed, so I continued the story with me running through the streets, trying to get her to stop before she got hit by the car.

Miki and Suzu both gasped when they heard that Hanako got hit.

"She got _hit_?" Suzu asked, actually not being an ass for once. From my perspective, she even felt bad for her rape comment.

I nodded. "Yeah. Then I ran around the car to check on her, and then..." I thumped my chest lightly. "Heart attack."

"What about Hanako?" Miki asked.

I told them what I was told, though only the nurse was mentioned as a source. Kenji's presence was shadier than anything he had done before.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be fine. She's a strong girl, believe it or not." _I believe it. _Miki leaned forward and kissed me on my lips, though I didn't feel as enticed as before. "Just get some rest, okay?"

My head bobbed and she headed to the door, Suzu in tow. Suzu gave me a suspicious look, and I fought off the urge to flip the bird. They said their goodbyes once more and left, leaving me to my thoughts.

My thoughts, a heart rate monitor, and a slowly growing feeling of guilt.

* * *

_I don't think I could do this for another two months._

It was the third day of my stay in the hospital, and as the previous days, a good chunk of time was spent staring at the ceiling. There was a TV that I could watch, but nothing interested me. Daytime television barely interested me anyway and the anime weren't pulling me in, so the ceiling caught my attention.

The boredom of the stay was killing me. No video games, no interesting TV, no books... not a damn thing. The two months I spent in UPMC were nowhere near as boring as the three-day stay at Kānto Central.

The slight feeling of guilt I had when I first woke up had grown immensely. The whole issue could have been avoided, had the stage lights not illuminated both of our faces, but nothing could be done. Regardless, I kept playing out different scenarios in my head, most of which didn't end in Hanako getting hit and me having a heart attack, wishing that what was reality was actually just a dream.

_I can't change the past, _I thought. _Why do I keep thinking I can?_

Sighing, I propped myself up. The same thing happened the first few days after the car accident in March, but I ended up playing out the same exact scenario, which involved us getting home safely, over and over again.

The door opened and interrupted my thoughts, complete with an entrance from the nurse who answered my questions three days before. It seemed like he was strutting to close the gap between us.

_Either someone's in a really good mood or they're just being a pompous ass._

The nurse produced the clipboard that he had tucked away near his armpit and pulled a pen out of his pocket. He scribbled something down before turning his head to face me.

"Good news, kiddo," he said with a smile.

I shuffled in the bed. "What?" I asked. _Hanako came out of shock? _I wanted to add.

"You're getting discharged." He cocked an eyebrow when I didn't jump for joy. "What's the matter? You actually like it in hospitals?"

"What about Hanako? Is she getting discharged, too?" I asked, ignoring his second question. The nurse shook his head, his smile twisting into a frown. "Why not?"

"She hasn't come out of shock completely, yet. She'll be fine pretty soon, though, so don't worry!" His attempt to reassure me failed when his smile seemed forced.

Sighing, I scratched my chin. "Am I able to go see her?"

"You really care about this girl, huh?" The nurse sighed and shrugged. "I don't see why you couldn't. Might even help her come out of shock." He patted my leg and turned around. "Your clothes and other belongings will be brought up shortly."

The nurse opened the door and left, leaving the door open in the process. His forced smile implied that something happened with Hanako, and that something was not good. I was so bothered by that, I barely noticed the female nurse who brought my belongings to the room. She walked beside my bed and took out the IVs and removed the other medical equipment attached to me.

"Thank you," I said. The woman merely bowed and walked out of the room, closing the door and leaving me to get changed.

Standing up, my knees buckled a little. It was still an unusual feeling, though I experienced it before. Compared to the buckling I felt after being discharged from UPMC, though, it was extremely minor.

"Scheiße..." I muttered as my legs lethargically transported me to the clothes. The hospital gown was quickly undone and tossed to the side. The shirt, underwear, and jeans quickly replaced it before I bent down to pull the socks on.

After slipping the shoes on and sliding my wallet into one of the pockets, I turned on my phone. It took a few moments, but it booted up and displayed a few missed call notifications and several text notifications, all from the previous night.

"The hell?" I unlocked the phone and tried to check who they were from, but the sender was just a number, someone who wasn't in my contacts. I checked the texts afterward to see what they wanted, opting to check the first text.

**Dude, it's Sean. Have you heard from Hanako?**

_Sean? How'd he get my number? Wait, he knows Hanako? _On impulse, I called the number, not even thinking about his question.

The line rang twice before being answered.

"Adolf?" Sean's voice greeted me.

"That's me," I replied in English. "How the hell did you get my number?"

"I e-mailed Louis, but that's not important. Since you called, I assume you got my messages?" He spoke in English as well.

I put the phone on speaker and opened the texts. "Yeah. 'Have you heard from...'" I trailed off.

"Yeah, have you heard from her?"

"Kinda," I mumbled, slumping into a chair. Guilt washed over me once more.

"Really? Where is she?" Lilly's worried voice boomed from the speaker.

"Lilly?" Though struck down with guilt, I was still surprised. _What's she doing with Sean? Are they good friends or something?_

"Yeah, Lilly's here," Sean said. "You said you heard from her, so do you know where she is? We haven't heard from her for a few days."

"Same place as me," I replied, my voice monotonous.

Lilly and Sean both sighed in relief. "That's good," Lilly said. "Where are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Kānto Central Hospital in Tokyo."

A couple moments of silence followed, giving me the impression I lost the signal.

"What happened?!" Lilly exclaimed, even more worried than before.

_Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about the hospital. Basic psychology, dumbass. _She had a right to be worried, though, so I sighed and prepared for panic.

Sean and Lilly soon learned of the entire incident. They found out about the live house, the notebook, the chase in the streets, the car, the heart attack... even what Hanako tried to say before passing out. Neither were able to offer a suggestion as to what she tried saying, though that may have been because they were still digesting everything.

"That was supposed to be her first article... How long have you been in the hospital?" she asked.

"Three days," I said, answering her question. _Her first article? What? _

"Do you know how she's doing?"

Another sigh slid out from between my lips and my fingernails dug into the skin on my forehead. "One nurse said she was in shock when I came to, and the same guy said she was still in shock not even fifteen minutes ago."

"What about you?" Sean asked, probably thinking I was getting mad since no one asked about how I was. He couldn't have thought any more wrong. "How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. I was actually about to go get discharged when I checked my phone."

"You're getting discharged already?"

"Yeah, Sean. I'm gonna go check up on Hanako after they discharge me."

Lilly was the one who responded. "No! Don't do that!"

Surprise grabbed hold of me once more. "Why not?"

"Do you remember how Hanako was on the days around her birthday?"

"Yeah," I responded, scratching the back of my neck. "She stayed locked in her room and I just made sure she had her work."

"It's basically the same thing now," Lilly said, sounding more confident and assertive than worried. "If she's in shock, that's similar to her mental state around her birthday. I suggest you just let her be."

Though Lilly knew Hanako better than I did, her reasoning still seemed flawed. _Wait, how she acts on her birthday... Lilly said she thinks Hanako blames herself for the fire and for her parents' deaths. That being said, her birthday is a horrible time for her, because she wishes she was never born. What if..._

"You guys still there?" I asked, gears starting to move in my head.

"Yeah," the two responded at the same time. The difference in accents wasn't going to be easy to get used to.

"Lilly, you said that Hanako probably acts like she does on the days surrounding her birthday because she blames herself, right?"

"Yes," Lilly replied in a 'pretty much' kind of tone.

"What if she's in shock now because she blames herself for my heart attack?" The thought didn't seem that farfetched.

"But how?" Sean asked. "You said she passed out before you had the heart attack."

"Sean, you should know how hospital staff are, even if it was in West Virginia."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and stood, walking over to the window and looking out as cars passed by on the streets below.

"If you are brought in with someone and you ask about that person, the nurses are likely going to answer you. I asked the male nurse about Hanako and he told me about her condition, so I can only assume the same happened when Hanako woke up. She wanted to know where I was, they said I had a heart attack and was admitted with her, and then she entered shock." That was the brainchild of three days spent staring at the ceiling.

"That's a really good observation, Adolf," Lilly said, her voice back to being calm as it normally would be.

"That being the case, I'm gonna see her," I said, my mind made up. The rush hour traffic was building up below.

"No, Adolf, you shou-"

Something snapped and it couldn't be stopped.

"She's blaming herself for _my _heart attack, and you want me to sit here and let her keep blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault, just like she does every damn July? Tell me, what the hell would she think if I didn't show up to check on her? Her parents sure as hell weren't able to, which is exactly why she blames herself! I know I would feel one fucking hell of a lot better if someone told me it wasn't my Goddamn fault!"

Angry, I flopped down on the chair I sat in earlier. Running my hand through my hair, it became apparent that my breathing had picked up. Something wet slid down my cheek from my eye and the phone was silent, but still on speaker. My fingers were digging into my thigh through the jeans because of how tight of a grip I had.

"_...if someone told me it wasn't my Goddamn fault." _Images and scents of charred flesh, burning gasoline, and blood assaulted me. Screams of agony haunted me, the scent of a burn ward lingered with me, and a face was etched into my mind..._ They're just bad memories, that's all they are. That's it. Nothing else._

After pushing away the awful memories, the only sound that was heard for a few seconds was my rapid, heavy breathing. After my breathing slowed down some, which also caused me to calm down a little, I started to feel bad for losing my cool.

"I..." I paused, took a shaky breath, and ran my hand through my hair again. "Look, I'm sorry for yelling."

My apology was accepted with silence. _Should've expected that,_ I thought.

A male sigh was projected from the speaker. "Listen, Adolf," Sean said, his voice unnervingly calm. "I know you've got a short fuse and all, but keep your temper under control."

"Sorry," I repeated. "It's just..." A sigh got expunged. "I don't know."

"You don't know what?" Sean asked. "Why you lost it?"

"Yeah," I sighed with a nod, though the nod went unnoticed. "Regardless, I'm still going to see her."

"Adolf-" Lilly started, her voice indicating that she was still a bit shaken from my yelling.

"Lilly, save your breath." My voice didn't get any louder, maintaining its volume instead.

Sighs seemed to be contagious, for Lilly let one out. "Then just how is it going to help?"

I cleared my throat. _Explaining may make up for flipping out. _"Okay, so Hanako supposedly blames herself for her parents' deaths, right?" Both of them made affirmative noises. "I think it's because, like I said, no one ever told her it wasn't her fault. There likely wasn't a reasonable explanation for the fire, nothing and no one to blame. She was a young child, and like any young child, there was only one person to pin the blame on." _Something I know all too well..._

"Herself," Sean finished, making me hope he got my point. "Adolf, that's the second time you said that, and we already know this."

_He didn't get my point. _I grunted and massaged my throat, my voice getting hoarse. "The same thing's likely happened already. Why else would she have gone into shock when she heard about my heart attack, which she didn't cause?" My entire argument was based off of conjecture and speculation, but it only seemed logical.

"Quit repeating yourself, man. You keep repeating that Hanako didn't cause the heart attack." Sean cleared his throat. "We understand that and all, but if you don't mind me asking, what exactly triggered the attack?"

My free hand met my scalp as I recalled the chase through the streets. "Whenever she got hit by the car. The exact moment I saw her get launched into the air, my chest started hurting, but that was only mild pain, like pinpricks. It wasn't until she passed out that I had the full attack."

"Okay, I feel like some sort of therapist or psychologist or doctor right now, but did it just happen or...?"

_Damn right you seem like some kind of doctor. Want me to drop my drawers and cough next? _My fingers rubbed against my temple before I continued. "I was reminded of... things."

"Oh." Apparently, Sean knew what I meant. "Those things?"

"Yeah, those."

Sean didn't respond, but I heard a muffled conversation between Lilly and him. I couldn't make any of it out, but I was able to tell that they were serious. That lasted for close to a minute before Sean came back to the phone, my foot tapping impatiently the whole time.

"Okay, the only thing I can really think of is that you didn't want to lose her," he said with finality.

I stood and scratched the back of my neck. What Sean said made sense, and it bothered me that I wasn't able to figure something so simple out.

"I guess you're right, since close friends are pretty much family." I lost enough family members as it was.

Sean groaned for some reason. "Yeah, let's just go with that. Not exactly what I was getting at, but whatever."

"What were you getting at?"

"Never mind that right now. Are you still going to check on Hanako?" Lilly butted in, her voice once more expressing worry.

_I made up my mind earlier. _"You're Goddamn right I am. Nothing you say is going to change that, either."

Sean said something about how pointless it was to argue with me now, causing Lilly to heave a really heavy sigh. "Just... just be careful, alright?" She seemed more on edge than before.

_Like I didn't already know to be careful. _"Don't worry, I will." I opened the door and put one foot in the hallway. "Where are you guys, anyway?" '_Why are you together?' is a better question._

"We are in the land where the unicorns prance freely in the fields," Sean answered, trying to mimic Sean Connery.

I smiled, unable to really laugh. "You're in Scotland?" _Now I'm even more curious as to why they're together. _"Why?"

"Yeah, and that's not important right now," Sean said, not mimicking anyone that time.

"Adolf, just please be careful," Lilly requested.

"I will," I repeated as my entire body made it into the hallway and the door shut behind me. "Guess I'll talk to you guys later."

"Yeah, talk to you then." Sean didn't have the same amount of worry in his voice as Lilly, but his uneasiness was just as detectable.

"Goodbye, and good luck." Lilly sounded like she loathed the mere thought of what I was going to do, seeming even more worried than before.

The two hung up before me, so the phone was just slipped into the empty pocket as I walked down the hall to the elevators.

_I've got nothing to lose now,_ I thought. _I've already lost everything... Wait, are they even allowed to discharge a teenager by himself? I guess they could, since I have no family here, not even a host family. Still, it doesn't seem right._

The halls were fairly empty, but unlike the room I was in for three days, basically everything was a light beige. With every passing second, the entire hospital seemed to feel more like a sanatorium, not just that one room. I found the elevators via signs that had 'Elevators' written in English. The signs had me make several turns as I traversed the halls.

I entered the elevator on the right and pressed the button for the ground floor. Upon making it to the first floor and stepping out, I looked around for any indication as to where the reception desk was. The reception desk was actually down the hall to the left of the elevator, and unlike most things in the hospital's halls, the desk was a smooth granite color.

The receptionist, a woman of average Japanese height, noticed me and nodded before typing away on the keyboard to her computer.

"Uh, I'm here to get discharged," I warily said in Japanese, still unsure of how discharging myself was going to work.

"Right. You're Riese, right?" I nodded. "Okay, just let me pull up your insurance information..."

"But I don't have my insurance card." _Probably should have brought that, dumbass._

The receptionist shook her head. "Don't worry, I have it right here." She jabbed a finger towards the monitor before looking back at it.

Her eyes moved rapidly back and forth, reading my insurance information. When she was done, she looked right back at me and we continued the discharging process, which took not even five minutes to complete.

"Alright, it looks like you're good to go!" She gave me one of those smiles that hospital staff are probably trained to give. "Have a nice day!"

"Well, I'm not leaving yet. I have a couple questions."

She cocked an eyebrow, probably questioning why I wouldn't want to bolt out of the medical facility as soon as possible. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"First, is it fine for me to be discharged by myself?"

The woman merely tapped her finger off of the desk. "You just handled this part by yourself. There's a young blonde woman who volunteered to take you home."

_A young blonde? But Lilly's in Scotland and I assume Akira's with her and Sean... I wonder who it is..._

"And the other question?" the receptionist asked, her false smile gradually fading.

_Excuse me because you hate your job. _"Which room is Hanako Ikezawa in?"

"Ikezawa? The girl who volunteered to take you home just visited her with some guy." She jabbed her thumb towards the elevator. "Where you came from, check room one-fifteen."

"One-fifteen, got it." I spun around and headed toward the elevators. "Thanks!"

The receptionist just nodded and went back to whatever she was doing before I showed up. I pushed the 'up' button and waited for the door to open. The elevator reached the ground floor after half a minute, a few people on board. They got off and I nodded to them. They did the same and started towards the reception desk.

I stepped into the elevator and pressed the button numbered '5.' The door closed and the elevator began its ascent, which didn't last long, though I had my entire plan of attack figured out in that short amount of time. Once back on the fifth floor, I began to hunt down room one-fifteen, which wasn't too far from the elevators. It was near the fifth floor's staff desk, which I approached. An older woman was working behind the desk and she seemed to be a genuinely pleasant person, bearing a warm smile when she noticed me.

"How may I help you, young man?" she asked.

"Um, I'm here to visit Miss Ikezawa," I said, deciding to be formal.

"Ah, right. The main desk called up and told me you were on your way." She walked out from behind the desk and walked to room one-fifteen. "Poor dear. She seems like a sweet girl."

I nodded. "That she is, ma'am."

She smiled and opened the door. "Such a nice boy. Here you go!"

"Thank you." The more formal and respectful way to say 'thank you' was used.

The woman shook her head as she started to walk back to the desk. "It's a shame that there aren't more kids like you nowadays, so respecting of their elders," she muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. "I wonder if all foreign children are like that."

_You'd be sorely mistaken,_ I thought before composing myself and entering the room, closing the door behind me. Hanako was lying on the bed, her eyes fixated on the ceiling. She didn't budge when the door closed, nor when I started walking towards her bed. Her hair was splayed out on the pillow.

"Guten tag, Hanako," I greeted, which caused her to jump and look at me, her eyes wide.

"A-A-Ad-Ad-Adolf?!" she severely stuttered, likely surprised by my appearance. _She didn't hear me outside just a few moments ago?_

"Ja, es ist mir," I said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

Hanako entered a complete stutterfest, constantly repeating the syllables 'go' and 'se' in that order. I grabbed a chair near Hanako's bed and pulled it up next to the side of the bed. Sitting down with some uniformity and composure, my hand got raised to quiet her. I knew what she was trying to say, and I wouldn't have any of it.

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault," I calmly said, looking Hanako square in the eyes. Her eyes were sullen, suggesting she had been crying a lot. New tears were already streaming down her face.

"B-b-but th-th-they said y-y-you had th-th-the he-heart a-a-a-attack a-after I-I pa-pa-passed out," she sobbed. "I-it's a-all m-m-my f-fault..." It was hard to understand, but I managed.

I placed my hand on hers. "No, it's not." Hanako sniffled and tilted her head, confused. "If anything, it's all my fault."

"B-but I r-ran o-out o-o-of the live h-hou-house a-and m-ma-made y-you follow."

"You didn't make me do anything," I said through clenched teeth. I couldn't help but get annoyed by Hanako constantly blaming herself. "I followed on my own accord."

"B-but i-if you d-di-didn't fo-follow -"

"I wouldn't have had the heart attack?" She nodded, tears still flowing down her face. "I know, but you probably would have still been hit by the car, and had that happened, I would have felt extremely guilty for not following and trying to prevent it." I did yell for her to stop several times.

I exhaled and then took a deep breath to recompose myself. "Regardless, it's still not your fault. I followed, tried to get you to stop, and watched you get hit. I was fine and, just like now, I worried more about you than myself. Well, I _was_ fine, until I remembered some things..."

"Wh-what k-kind of th-thi-things?" Hanako seemed curious, though she still cried.

I shook my head. "Painful memories of my past... Things I don't want to remember." Hanako still seemed curious, though it should have been expected. She really didn't know much about my past, yet I knew about her most painful moment in life. "I'll tell you some other time, if you really want to know, but you have to promise me something."

"W-wh-what?"

I stood, clutched her hand a little tighter, and leaned forward. "You don't blame yourself for what happened."

Hanako opened her mouth, likely to protest, but her effort was precluded by what I did. It was a fallback plan, just in case she insisted on blaming herself.

My lips touched her forehead and suction between my lips was created. The kiss on the forehead was my third-to-last resort, a kiss on the cheek and one on the lips being second and first, respectfully.

I pulled back to see Hanako staring at me, her eyes even wider and her mouth agape. Her cheeks quickly turned a rosy pink, something I found oddly adorable. She didn't seem responsive at first, making me feel like an idiot as I stepped back. _You took her out of one state of shock and put her into another. Genius._

Whenever she did respond, though, she was verbally stumbling again. She eventually took a deep breath and exhaled, seeming to be full of confidence.

"I l... I l..." she tried saying, seemingly trying to form English words.

She was rather proficient in English, so it didn't seem like she would have had a problem saying whatever it was. Hanako squeezed her eyes shut and tried saying it two more times. Her tongue came out of her mouth after touching her teeth each time she made the 'L' sound, meaning she actually practiced proper pronunciation.

Hanako exhaled in one big sigh. She then turned to me and inhaled again. "Th-thank you," she said in English.

I didn't know what she was thanking me for, but it didn't matter. I leaned in again and wrapped my arms around Hanako, glad that I got her to stop blaming herself.

"It's nothing," I replied, also in English. Her arms were wrapped around me so tightly, it felt like she was bear hugging me. "Hanako, can you... loosen your grip?" I asked in between breaths in Japanese.

Hanako quickly loosened her arms, allowing me to break the embrace. After pulling back, it was apparent that Hanako had a faint smile on her lips. _Mission success._ Though I could have stayed there for hours, there was someone waiting to take me home, where ever home was.

"Hanako, I'm sorry, but I have to go," I informed her.

"W-why?" she asked, a frown starting to creep onto her face.

"I got discharged and someone, I don't know who, is waiting to take me home. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting, now would I?"

Hanako shook her head, though she looked sad.

I pulled her into another hug. "Get some rest and remember what I said," I said in her ear before breaking the second embrace. "Have the staff call me in advance before you get discharged. I'll meet you, alright?" Hanako nodded and I turned to leave. "I'll see you soon, Hana." The door handle felt cool in my hand.

"W-wait."

"Yeah?" I looked over my shoulder, the handle in mid-turn.

"Um... W-what's your ph-phone number?" She calmed down tremendously, holding a notebook and pen out to me. Where she got them, I didn't know, though the notebook reminded me of the one she dropped at the live house.

"Oh, right. How could they call me without my number?" I nervously laughed at my stupidity and took the items. I wrote my cell number down in the notebook and handed both items back to Hanako before returning to the door.

"A-Auf Wiedersehen," Hanako said, surprising me.

A smile crept across my face and I turned back to Hanako. "Das ist gut, Hanako. Auf Wiedersehen."

The door handle made the full turn and the door unlatched, allowing me to exit. I closed the door behind me and started to walk back to the elevators when the woman at the desk stopped me.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked.

The only thing I did was turn my head to face her. "It went better than expected, ma'am."

The older woman smiled. "You know, you must be really special to her if that's the case."

The statement caught me off-guard for some reason. "And she's special to me," I responded, being the only thing I was able to think at the time.

The woman smiled and chuckled a little. "Ah, young love is so adorable."

_Uh... what? _"Um, sorry, but I have to go, ma'am. It was a pleasure speaking with you."

"Oh, it was a pleasure speaking with you, too. That girl in there is lucky to have a boy as nice as you."

My cheeks felt a little tingly. "Well, goodbye!" I waved to the older woman as I power walked to the elevator and pushed the 'Down' button.

_She thinks Hanako is my girlfriend? _The elevator arrived without any passengers, allowing me to enter and go back to the ground floor. _I mean, we're just really close friends. Besides, I'm dating Miki. _The elevator arrived at the ground floor and I vacated it. _Whatever, Adolf. It was just a misunderstanding, not something you should get all worked up about._

The receptionist lazily waved goodbye to me when I walked past. The doors to the outside opened, revealing a cloudy sky above Tokyo and the back of a female figure that had blonde hair. _Must be the chick I was told about._

I walked up to greet the girl when she spun around. "About damn time!"

"Inoue?" I asked, confused. "Why're you here?"

Inoue ushered me to follow, which I did. "I was visiting Hanako earlier."

_Right. The Newspaper Club must've been here in Tokyo, then. _"I'm guessing you guys were in the city, then?"

Inoue nodded. "Yeah, we were."

We walked a little bit more in silence. "Inoue, if you don't mind me asking, why are you taking back home or wherever?"

"Couple things," she said. "One, call me Naomi. Two, one of the nurses told me Hanako was brought in with someone, who would happen to be you, and that that someone was getting discharged today. Three..." We rounded the corner and a black Nissan Skyline came into view on the side of the street. "I have transportation."

Katakana, the guy with the weird name, got out of the car and threw up his arms. "Adolf! How've you been? Well, besides the, uh... hospitalization?"

"Fine, I guess," I replied. "You drove all the way down here?"

Katakana nodded. "Yeah. I love driving, man."

Naomi walked up to Katakana and lightly shoved him before kissing him. "Alright, enough guy talk. You've got quite a ride ahead." She opened the passenger side door and ushered me into the back seat.

"What do you mean?" I asked once inside of the car. "The beach house I was at is just outside of Tokyo."

Katakana got into the driver's seat and started the car while Naomi took the passenger seat.

"I forgot number four," Naomi said. "Misha called me a while ago and asked if I was going to visit Hanako. I told her I was going to with Katakana and she asked that we take you back to Yamaku."

"What? How did she know I was getting discharged? And why back to Yamaku?" Katakana started to drive.

"She called, I guess," Katakana said with a shrug.

"Misha's the other reason I'm having Katakana take you home," Naomi added. "And she said that she and Shizune had your stuff packed up and sent back to Yamaku when you were admitted."

I wanted to ask why, but it was doubtful that Naomi had the answer. She was merely doing me a favor by taking me back. Well, Katakana was, actually, but she arranged it.

A few minutes were spent in near silence, the only sounds being the engine of the tuner and the radio.

"So. Adolf." Naomi looked back at me. "What took you so long to get discharged?"

"I went to check on Hanako," I replied.

She turned back around and sighed. "Didn't go well, huh?"

A shrug rolled off of my shoulders. "Actually, it went fine."

Both Katakana and Naomi looked back at me, surprised. Katakana quickly returned focus to the road, but Naomi kept her eyes on me for several seconds before she turned back around and mumbled something about being special.

A little under ten minutes later, we pulled next to a hotel and Naomi got out of the car, but not before giving Katakana another kiss.

"I'll see you later, Adolf," she said. She walked away, giving Katakana a flirty wave goodbye.

I got out of the back seat and got into the passenger seat, after which Katakana started driving again.

"What, you're not staying with her?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I'm headed back to Yamaku anyway, so it works out."

I nodded and stared out of the window, the buildings of Tokyo going by at various speeds. The radio started playing a Hall & Oates song, so I turned it up. Katakana didn't really mind and focused on the road.

It was going to be a long ride indeed.

* * *

"...and after you complete the mission 'Hang Ten,' Mister Raspberry Jam is on the front of Trevor's truck!" I explained, laughing.

Nighttime had long since fallen over Japan by the time we reached our destination in the Miyagi prefecture. Katakana started laughing with me, but continued driving without a mistake. We climbed the hill to Yamaku quickly in the Skyline, largely because it had an engine and wheels.

Katakana pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine, the area getting much darker since the headlights were no longer on. We both got out and locked the doors.

I stretched my back out as we walked back to the gates. "Dude, that would have taken quite a while if you didn't start flying in the countryside."

Katakana nodded. "Believe me, I know." He let out a yawn when we walked through the gates. "Damn, I'm tired."

"Ditto."

The school grounds felt a little nostalgic even though I wasn't in Tokyo that long. The two of us walked to the dorms, not much being said between us. Fatigue has an anti-social effect on people.

When we arrived at the dorms, the common area was empty, though it was close to three in the morning. The two of us walked up to the one hundreds and we said goodbye to each other once we made it to our hallway. He went to his room and I walked to my door, which had two bags in front of it.

_What do you know? They literally sent them. _

I pulled my wallet out and retrieved my key to unlock the door. It felt weird to be back in the dorm room after the time I spent in that large beach house. The bags were quickly moved inside before I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Upon returning to my room, I stripped down to my boxers and grabbed my phone out of my pants.

Sitting on my bed, I opened the messages and replied to one of Sean's texts.

Just so you know, it went okay.

_Short and sweet,_ I thought as it sent.

The phone was placed down on my nightstand while I stretched out on the bed. I started to question if what went down with Hanako was a good thing or a bad thing, but the questioning didn't match the overwhelming force of sleep, which I soon succumbed to.

* * *

**AN: Dialogue heavy chapter is heavy in dialogue.  
**

**I apologize heavily for the length of time it took me to type and upload this chapter. At first, I had writer's block for a week. Then, Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online took up the past three weeks. Regardless, I'm back, but the story isn't going to be updated frequently. There are various reasons, but those aren't important right now.**

**The ending felt a little rushed, yes, but I blame my computer more than anything. It keeps randomly shutting off, so I was racing against the clock to finish. I also have no idea how Kānto Central is set up and I couldn't find anything online, so pardon any inaccuracies there. Oh, and Kenji's appearance will be explained at some point.**

**Dragoon292929: The Mirai Nikki thing was intentional. I didn't want to spoil too much.**

**Izzy: Danke.**

**Flibbly Moonbeam: Rammstein wasn't my first choice, but it's always a good one.**

**Yes, Clarky19's OC, Sean, is going to be appearing more frequently, and as usual, review and what not. Any questions will be answered, either by PM or email. Critiques and such will be appreciated. The chapter title rule applies, as usual.**

**If you're a guest user (or not, it doesn't matter), my email is a gmail account (mrfeelcollins), so feel free to ask anything about the story. I will answer, so long as it isn't likely to spoil anything in the story.**

**Finally, Japanese isn't that hard to learn... That is, until kanji comes up. Teaching myself Japanese wouldn't be so difficult if kanji didn't exist. That being said, I haven't learned anything past hiragana and katakana and a few kanji.**


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